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How can Meritocracy become the modern world's dominant political system, like Democracy IOTL?

The first thing that comes to mind is an ascendant China whose meritocratic traditions, either through military dominance or more widespread cultural influence, spread throughout the world much like Britain and America's democratic traditions IOTL.

An example of a scenario involving more widespread Chinese cultural influence is the Pope approving the Chinese rites in the 17th Century. This leads to much closer economic and cultural ties & exchanges between Europe and China and eventually, the idea of meritocracy reaches Europe and penetrates the European philosophical and intellectual community, making meritocracy a central tenet of the upcoming Enlightenment.

But what else could happen to make meritocracy as prevalent as democracy IOTL?
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