This project aims to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the positive and normative dimensions of the meritocratic ideal. Drawing on the methodologies and insights of philosophy, economics, and sociology, we will investigate some of the most pressing questions on meritocracy: Is meritocracy a desirable goal? Does the United States qualify as such? How do different cultures assess meritocratic virtues? Should merit be evaluated retrospectively or prospectively? Can it be measured, and if so, how? We seek to build the groundwork for cross-disciplinary interaction on the subject by convening three events to review the stock of knowledge regarding meritocracy and examine the principal questions with a focus on ethics and empirics, respectively. These convenings will facilitate intellectual cross-pollination and allow us to locate the shifting idea of ‘meritocracy’ within these different disciplinary approaches, ultimately resulting in sets of scholarly papers, the first of which will constitute a special issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. This project will stimulate dialogues between humanists and social scientists on a topic of present relevance in political and policy debates to produce a more legible understanding of meritocracy, its virtues, and its demerits as it is applied in contemporary life.