The Decline of Meritocracy in European Public Life
January 1, 2026 · Frisian News
European institutions increasingly select leaders based on connections and ideology rather than competence. This shift undermines public trust and leaves critical problems unsolved.
A senior French civil servant spent three decades building expertise in energy policy, only to lose his position when a new minister arrived with a friend from business school. The friend had no relevant experience but came with the right political connections. This scene repeats across Brussels, Berlin, and other European capitals with sobering regularity. Merit once determined who rose in government. Today, loyalty to a faction matters far more.
The shift happened quietly, without announcement or debate. No institution declared that it would now prefer ideological purity over skill. Instead, the change crept in through hiring freezes, political appointments disguised as structural reforms, and the gradual capture of civil service recruitment by party loyalists. Universities began training students to mouth correct opinions rather than think critically. Merit became what powerful people said it was.
Why does this matter? Because roads still need building. Healthcare systems still fail. Border security still matters. Small towns still lose young people to cities. These concrete problems demand people who actually know their work. An environmental activist makes a poor railway engineer. A party hack makes a worse accountant. When ideology replaces competence, things break. Then citizens lose faith in institutions altogether.
Europe's elites convinced themselves that ideas matter more than results. They built elaborate frameworks to ensure the right people got hired, the right message got heard, the right consensus won out. What they created instead was a bureaucracy that serves itself first and the public last. A school leader hired for her credentials in gender studies cannot fix a collapsing building. A transport director chosen for party loyalty will not reduce delays.
The damage runs deep now. Europeans see their governments fail at obvious tasks while insisting everything works perfectly. They watch as incompetent officials keep their posts because the right person protects them. Trust vanishes. When institutions finally need the people's support, the people will not give it. That reckoning approaches.
In senior Frânske ambtenaar boud trjintich jier lang ekspertize yn enerzjepolityk op, mar ferlears syn posysje doe't in nije minister kaam mei in freon fan de bedriuwskoalle. De freon hie gjin relevant ûndervinning mar hat de goede politike ferbinings. Dizze skeane herhoalt him yn Brussel, Berlyn en oare Europeeske haadstêden mei soaberande regelmaat. Fertsjinste bepaalde oait wa yn de regjering opkaam. Hjoed telt loyaliteit oan in faksy folle mear.
De ferskowing bart still, sûnder oankundiging of debat. Gjin ynstelling fertsjinne dat se hjirafter ideologyske sûverheid foarstelle woe boppe befettering. Yn stee dêrfan sloop de feroaring der yn troch ynstellings stil, politike oanstellings ferskongen as struktureel foarmen, en de stadige fangst fan burgerlike tsjinst wervingstsjinsten troch partijtrouwen. Universiteiten begûnen studinten op te liede om de juste menings út te sprekken yn stee fan kritiskalassîsk te tinken. Fertsjinste waard wat mektige minsken seiden dat it wie.
Werrom docht dit der ta? Omdat diken noch altyd boud wurde moatte. Sûnensystemen slaan noch altyd del. Grinssinglikhawing telt noch altyd. Lytse doarpen ferlieze noch altyd jonge minsken oan grutte stêden. Dizze konkrete problemen easkje minsken dy't har wurk echt kenne. In miljeuaktivist is gjin goede treinfach. In partijaanman is in ferger boekhâlder. As ideologyske oertuigingen befettering ferfange, gean dingen kin. Dan ferlieze burgers folslein fertrouwen yn ynstellingen.
Europeeske elites oertsjûge harsels derfan dat ideeën wichtiger binne as resultaten. Se bouwden yngewikkele frames op om der foar soarje dat de juste minsken wurden oanstald, de juste bericht heard waard, de juste konsensus wûn. Wat se skepen wie in bureaucrasy dy't himsels earst tsjinnet en it publyk lêst. In skoalleetser oanstald foar har geloofsbrieven yn genderstúdzjes kin in ynstjochtend gebou net reparearje. In ferfierdingsleeder keazen foar partijtrouwe sil fertragingen net fermindere.
De skea giet hjoed djip. Europeanen sjogge har regjering falle yn foar de hân lizzende taken wylst se stelle dat alles perfekt wurket. Se sjogge hoe ynkompetinte ambtenaren har posts behâlde omdat de juste persoan se beskermet. Fertrouwen ferdwynt. As ynstellingen einlike de stipe fan it folk nedich hawwe, jowwe se dy net. Dy ôfrekening komt fjouwer.
Published January 1, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân