A eunuch, a priest and a civil servant walk into a bar . . .

In his masterwork The Origins of Political Order, the seminal political theorist Francis Fukuyama draws a fascinating through-line between the eunuchs who served in government roles in China and the Ottoman Empire, Catholic priests in medieval and Renaissance Europe, and the modern notion of the professional, impartial civil servant.

Fukuyama's theory states that the rise of modern professional civil servants in the West a, possibly inadvertent, continuation of the practice of creating eunuchs in Imperial China and celibate Catholic priests in Medieval Europe.

He argues that these institutions sought to prevent officials from being influenced by concerns of heredity and thus created a more merit-based system of government.

In Imperial China, having eunuchs as state officials removed the threat of hereditary succession, as eunuchs could not pass on their authority to their descendants.

Similarly, in Medieval Europe, celibate priests were seen as a way to prevent state officials from using their offices for their own or their family's benefit.

This allowed for a more meritocratic system of government based on the individual's abilities and merit, rather than their family connections.

This system was later adopted by modern professional civil services, where officials are appointed based on their merit and qualifications, rather than their family connections.