With demomcrary facing challanges globally, there has been growing interest in the model of metiocracy in recent political studies. M. Hamza Uçar’s Imperial Metiocracies: Comparing Models of Ottoman and Ming Dynasty the Sixteenth Century provides a comparative study on the meritocratic systems of the Late-Ming China, and the sixteenth century Ottoman Empire. Based on a careful histirocal analysis, this study not only accounts vividly the “Imperial Meritocracy” of the two ancient empires, but also has important theoretical implications for studies of democracy and meritocracy.
