Final answer:
Meritocracy is the system where success is based on individual effort, talent, and ability. It is the ideal system for social mobility, although in reality, no pure meritocracy exists due to other factors like social capital influencing success.
Step-by-step explanation:
The social system in which people achieve economic or social success in proportion to their effort, talent, and ability is known as a meritocracy. In a meritocracy, personal worth and individual achievements determine social standing, theoretically rewarding hard work and skill. Among the options presented, meritocracy (A) is the correct answer to the student's question. However, in reality, a pure meritocracy has never fully existed as multiple factors, including social capital, can influence one's ability to succeed.
When considering which of the systems allows for the most social mobility, the answer is A. Meritocracy. Unlike a caste system, which is closed and based on ascribed status, or a monarchy, which operates on inherited positions, a meritocracy favors open stratification, enabling individuals to move up or down the social ladder based on their achievements.
The concept of class systems emphasizes an economic structure where upward and downward mobility is possible based on factors like education, income, and occupation. The class system in capitalist societies, such as the United States, is often associated with the ideal of a meritocracy, where success is attributed to individual merit, though in practice it does not exclusively operate on merit alone.