Between Legitimation and Imitation: Meritocratic Reforms in Weakly Institutionalized Democracies (Evidence from Ukraine)
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article provides a critical analysis of meritocracy as an instrument of public governance in weakly institutionalized democracies, using Ukraine as a case study. It argues that meritocracy is not an autonomous driver of governmental effectiveness or political legitimacy; its impact depends on the quality of broader political institutions and accountability structures. The study advances two hypotheses. (H1) In weak democracies with limited institutional capacity, the formal introduction of meritocratic instruments – higher remuneration and professionalized recruitment – without effective accountability mechanisms does not produce sustainable positive socio-economic outcomes. (H2) Where political accountability is weakened, such reforms intensify asymmetries in income and status both within the civil service and between top officials and society, without improving public policy performance. Methodologically, the article draws on comparative institutionalism and theories of democratic accountability. It combines comparative analysis, institutional examination of legal frameworks, and secondary data analysis. The paper systematizes key theoretical approaches to meritocracy as an organizational principle, a reward system, and a source of legitimation, and contrasts its functioning in consolidated democracies and Central and Eastern Europe with its constraints in weakly institutionalized systems. The empirical section examines Ukraine after 2014. It shows that fragmented reforms, weak horizontal accountability – particularly limited parliamentary oversight of the executive – and the persistence of informal practices have rendered meritocratic innovations largely imitative. The analysis finds no stable correlation between increased remuneration for top officials and improvements in socio-economic indicators, while documenting widening income asymmetries within the bureaucracy. The article concludes that in the absence of effective administrative sanctions and political accountability, meritocracy in Ukraine operates primarily as a mechanism of external legitimation and "managed professionalization," rather than as a tool for strengthening democratic accountability and governance effectiveness. It argues that meritocratic procedures must be embedded in a comprehensive system of political and administrative accountability to generate substantive institutional change. Key words: meritocracy, public administration, civil service, democratic legitimacy, institutional weakness, political accountability, horizontal accountability, comparative institutionalism, government effectiveness.
Source: Political Studies
Author: Nataliia Kononenko
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7146986702