<p>This article builds on the regime type comparison conducted recently by Dimitri Landa and Ryan Pevnick and presents a well-designed semi-parliamentarian democratic meritocracy as a theoretically plausible alterative to representative democracy. It advances two separate but interrelated claims. One is that attractive consequences which Landa and Pevnick have associated with a well-designed representative democracy can be equally matched by a well-designed semi-parliamentarian democratic meritocracy. The other is that their insights about the compatibility between political meritocracy and egalitarian values can be further developed to address existing criticisms of democratic meritocracy in Confucian political theory and strengthen its normative justification. By making those two claims, the article contributes to a convergence of interests between Western democratic theory and Confucian political theory over the reconciliation of democracy with meritorious governance.</p>