Meritocracy, Populism, and the Future of Democracy

This book explores the fundamental shift that has occurred in America and Britain as elites accumulate unprecedented capital and influence and a meritocracy has emerged to manage national affairs, a change that means opportunity, affluence, and power have migrated away from most of the population.

Arguing the following four points:

• Geography accounts for the accumulating influence of metropolitan regions, at the expense of smaller cities and rural communities of the heartland.
• Occupational groups, particularly lawyers, physicians, and financiers, have constructed professional cartels to secure rents at the expense of the prosperity of the public.
• Think tanks and universities have become the necessary pathways to attain leadership in public affairs.
• The internationalization of commerce has contributed to a parallel network of economic institutions and think tanks sharing ideas and personnel to lobby for po