Meritocracy Meets Democracy: East Meets West — Elena Ziliotti

This episode of The IR thinker explores political meritocracy and meritocratic democracy with Assistant Professor Elena Ziliotti, examining how ideas drawn from Confucian and Western political theories can inform debates on leadership selection, voter competence and democratic equality. The conversation considers the claimed epistemic advantages of meritocratic arrangements, their vulnerabilities to manipulation and elitism, and the prospects for combining meritocratic insights with democratic institutions in diverse political contexts.Elena Ziliotti is a tenured Assistant Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on political meritocracy, Confucian and liberal democratic thought, and the normative assessment of institutional designs that aim to promote good governance and public spirited leadership.Selected PublicationsMeritocratic Democracy: A Cross-Cultural Political TheoryBreaking the Mold: Normative Hybridity as the Key to Contemporary “Non-Western” Political TheorizingAn epistemic case for confucian democracyQuestions for Hierarchical ConfucianismPolitical meritocracy and the troubles of Western democraciesChapters00:00 Introduction01:51 Meritocratic Democracy vs. Traditional Governance05:51 East vs. West: Understanding Meritocracy07:17 Epistemic Superiority of Democratic Rule10:04 Defining Public-Spirited Political Leaders14:09 Addressing Voter Manipulation Concerns19:12 Weaknesses of Political Meritocracy: A Confucian View25:15 Political Parties in a Cross-Cultural Context27:53 Democratic Institutions vs. Meritocratic Governance31:55 The Role of Partisan Juries in Candidate Selection39:00 Balancing Meritocracy and Democratic Equality40:44 Singapore and China45:17 Benefits of Confucian Insights for Western Democracy49:35 Bridging Western and Confucian Political Theories52:26 Influence of Eastern and Western Thought on Elena’s Research55:26 Goals for Meritocratic Democracy in Diverse ContextsFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theirthinker/X: https://x.com/theirthinkerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theirthinker/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.