When power applies to the person and not the office, as is the case in an honor/shame society (and as opposed to an authoritative society), meritocracy becomes more difficult to sustain.
In an honor/shame society the purpose of its centrist institutions is to serve the honor of those who hold the power. Power-holders display their honor by arranging for the high status positions of those who belong to their camp, be they relatives or members of their clan or adherents to their sect or what have you. Failure on the part of a power-holder to arrange for well placed positions for those he favors would be a sign of weakness, and thus of shame.
Because the centrist institutions of an honor/shame society are populated by the sycophants and lackeys to the power-holders in their society their positions are tenuous. They can have no tenure beyond the era of dominance of their patrons. Their functioning within the institution therefore centers, not surprisingly, on the maintenance of their position by serving the power interests of their patrons rather than by furthering the accomplishment of the ostensible missions of the institutions employing them.
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