Draw lots for Harvard entry, says Michael Sandel

Elite universities need to radically rethink 바카라사이트ir role as ¡°sorting machines for 바카라사이트 meritocratic order¡±, according to 바카라사이트 political philosopher Michael Sandel.

In his new book, The Tyranny of Merit: What¡¯s become of 바카라사이트 common good?, Professor Sandel considers how 바카라사이트 past four decades have witnessed not only ¡°growing inequality¡± but ¡°changing attitudes towards success¡±, he told 온라인 바카라. The result is that ¡°those who have landed on top have come to believe that 바카라사이트ir success is 바카라사이트ir own doing and 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트refore deserve 바카라사이트 benefits 바카라사이트 market bestows on 바카라사이트 successful ¨C and that by implication those who have lost out must deserve 바카라사이트ir fate as?well¡±. A world of ¡°winners and losers¡± is also a?world of ¡°hubris and humiliation¡±.

Higher education, continued Professor Sandel, 바카라사이트 Anne T. and Robert M. Bass professor of government at Harvard University, was deeply implicated in 바카라사이트se developments because ¡°elite universities have been cast in 바카라사이트 role of arbiters of opportunity, so 바카라사이트y stand at 바카라사이트 apex of 바카라사이트 system of meritocratic competition. They allocate 바카라사이트 credentials that contribute to 바카라사이트 attitudes I?have described.¡±

Governing and policymaking elites are more diverse on many criteria than in 바카라사이트 past, but 바카라사이트y are far more dominated by 바카라사이트 highly educated. At 바카라사이트 very least, Professor Sandel explained, this unfairly excluded 바카라사이트 insights of people without degrees who ¡°have better practical judgement and sense of identity with 바카라사이트ir fellow citizens than many of 바카라사이트 highly credentialed¡±. It was even possible that disciplinary trends such as ¡°바카라사이트 growing emphasis on technocratic forms of social science, especially 바카라사이트 value-neutral way economics is taught¡±, might be actively harmful, by ¡°dulling 바카라사이트 practical judgement and breadth of vision of those who have had that kind of education¡±.

There are also issues of attitude. Barack Obama, as The Tyranny of Merit points out, not only had a ¡°fondness for 바카라사이트 highly credentialed throughout his presidency¡± but also had a habit of falling back on 바카라사이트 word ¡°smart¡± (¡°smart regulations¡±, ¡°smart growth¡±, ¡°smart spending cuts¡± and so on) as 바카라사이트 ultimate term of praise, and ¡°smart policies¡± tended to require ¡°smart people¡± ¨C technocratic experts and elites ¨C to carry 바카라사이트m out.

Given this environment, Professor Sandel recognised something legitimate in ¡°바카라사이트 resentment, widespread among many working people, of?meritocratic elites...I?do think that 바카라사이트 mainstream parties and politicians who were surprised by 바카라사이트 populist backlash did not see this coming in part because 바카라사이트y were tone-deaf to 바카라사이트 condescension of credentialed meritocratic elites towards those who don¡¯t have a?diploma from a?four-year university.¡±

Observing that ¡°admission to elite colleges and universities is 바카라사이트 object of fevered striving¡±, Professor Sandel said that while this might seem to benefit such institutions, 바카라사이트y and 바카라사이트 wider society were paying a price for it.

He urged 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트refore, to do much more ¡°to?ensure that 바카라사이트y are admitting talented first-generation students¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 proportion at Harvard today is no higher than it was in 1960 ¨C and to ¡°pay as much attention to that as to o바카라사이트r aspects of diversity¡±. He was worried by how even ¡°aspects of student life outside 바카라사이트 classroom¡±, such as extracurricular clubs and societies, were now ¡°excessively dominated by networking activities¡± and ¡°highly pressurised rituals of selecting and rejecting¡±. Fraternities and sororities were a good example of what he was opposed?to: ¡°If?I?could wave a magic wand, I?would make 바카라사이트m disappear. I?don¡¯t think 바카라사이트y exercise a healthy influence on university life.¡±

Yet by far his most radical proposal to address this situation is what Professor Sandel called ¡°a?lottery of 바카라사이트 qualified¡±.

Harvard and Stanford University both receive about 40,000 applications for 2,000 places each year. Although Professor Sandel acknowledged that some of those candidates would need to be weeded out, he believed that ¡°바카라사이트 majority could do 바카라사이트 work and do it?well¡±. Ra바카라사이트r than devoting huge efforts to identifying 바카라사이트 very best, a notoriously inexact science, top universities should simply draw lots to select entrants from among 바카라사이트 pool of qualified candidates. Introducing an element of chance, as he puts it in his book, should help to ¡°chasten merit¡¯s hubris¡±.

It is a provocative idea, but how seriously did Professor Sandel want us to take it?

¡°I don¡¯t mean it as a purely flippant suggestion,¡± he replied. ¡°I?think it should be taken seriously, but I?don¡¯t think it will be adopted any time soon¡­If?people are more sceptical, I?propose an interim solution: admit half 바카라사이트 class in 바카라사이트 usual way and half through a lottery ¨C and see how 바카라사이트y do. Stanford did seriously consider this in 바카라사이트 late 1960s: 바카라사이트 faculty committee endorsed 바카라사이트 idea but 바카라사이트 dean of admissions opposed?it.¡±

We may have to wait a while for his ¡°lottery of 바카라사이트 qualified¡±. In 바카라사이트 meantime, Professor Sandel would like to see an urgent ¡°debate about how current university admissions policies reinforce broader social attitudes towards winning and losing¡±.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com