Back to Social policies (Civ5)
Meritocracy icon
Meritocracy is a social policy in Civilization V. It is part of the Liberty tree and requires Citizenship.
Establishing a system where each member is rewarded for his work according to his or her real contributions and abilities, as opposed to a rigid system where rank and rules (and friendships and family connections) apply regardless of actual performance, is a powerful tool for enhancing happiness in a society.
Game Info[]
- +1
Happiness for each City you own 
connected to the Capital. - -5% Unhappiness from Citizens in non-occupied Cities.
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Strategy[]
Meritocracy is a strong long-term policy which works best after you expand your empire a bit. While it is costly to maintain roads, especially in a wide empire with lots of small cities, this can instead avoid spending 
Gold and relying on trade deals for luxuries while aiding defense. As the 
Unhappiness reduction is applied per 10 
Citizens and quite low at the start, consider adopting this policy as the one to complete the tree (unless your empire is desperate for some Happiness due to rapid early expansion).
Contrast the Tradition-tree Monarchy policy, which only applies to the 
Capital...but at the far greater Unhappiness reduction of 1:2 instead of 10% from Meritocracy.
Civilopedia entry[]
A meritocracy is a system in which the most talented and worthy are assigned jobs and gain advancement in the government bureaucracy, rather than, say, those who are close personal friends of the current ruler (or congressman), or those from a certain tribe or caste or religion. Many long-lived governments swing back and forth between some form of meritocracy and some less sensible method of choosing those who run things. At first the officials are chosen for their ability, then over the years patronage or privilege creeps into the system and the government becomes increasingly inefficient and corrupt. Eventually things become so bad that the bureaucracy is jettisoned or reformed, and more meritorious officials are once again appointed. This pattern repeats itself until the sun explodes and all life is wiped off of the face of the planet.
See also[]
- Meritocracy in other games