BUREAUCRACY

Reporters:
1st part JohnMark Gabriel G. Auza
2nd part Kurt Dean Terraza

WHAT IS BUREAUCRACY?
According to Merriam Dictionary, bureaucracy is a large group of
people who are involved in running a government but who are not
elected. (Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucracy)
The government organization, usually staffed with officials selected
on the basis of experience and expertise that implement public policy.
(Source:http://www.uky.edu/~jafine2/bureaucracy.htm)

A bureaucracy is an administrative or social system that relies on a

set of rules and procedures, separation of functions and a hierarchical
structure in implementing controls over an organization, government
or social system. (Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bureaucracy.asp)

MAX WEBER AND HIS IDEAL

BUREAUCRACY
The famous German sociologist Max Weber
set forth the concept of the bureaucracy in
1922.
His work was an attempt to describe what he
believed to be the basic features of a form of
organization that would eventually exist in all
modern societies.
In fact, Weber argued that bureaucracy was
an essential part of modern life.

SEVERAL CORE PRINCIPLES

OF THIS NEW FORM OF ORGANIZATION
ACCORDING TO WEBER
1. Bureaucratic workers operate within fixed
jurisdictions and are responsible for specific tasks.
This enables bureaucrats to develop expertise in particular areas,
and it also makes bureaucracy accountable, by establishing which
individuals are responsible for which concerns.

2. Bureaucrats exercise authority within a firm system

of hierarchy.
Subordinates are clearly under the control of their superiors, a fact
known by subordinate and superior alike. In a well-ordered
bureaucracy, this strengthens accountability, because each
bureaucrat knows which person he or she is expected to obey.

SEVERAL CORE PRINCIPLES

OF THIS NEW FORM OF ORGANIZATION
ACCORDING TO WEBER
3. Bureaucracy operates on the basis of written rules.
Consistency of treatment and efficiency are improved when
bureaucrats are required to keep detailed official records of their
actions and when specific rules apply to specific cases.

4. Bureaucrats assume their positions through expert

training.
Thus, bureaucrats should not normally be appointed on the basis of
political patronage or through nepotism.

WHO ARE THE BUREAUCRATS?

Bureaucrats are public officials who acquire their positions on the
basis of their qualifications and skills and who are primarily
responsible for the implementation of public policy.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
Revenue Collection
No viable political system can govern without tax revenues, and a
regular, established process for collecting taxes is a key element
of effective government. A specialized agency for tax collection is
typically found in all developed systems, democratic or otherwise.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
National Defense
In most countries, a significant proportion of modern government
spending is devoted to national defense. In addition to the
members of the armed forces, this function requires a considerable
army of bureaucrats.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
Service Delivery
Many services cannot be provided effectively by private means.
Public health services, road construction, national park and forest
managementamong many other serviceswould not be
performed as well, or would not be as widely available, if
government agencies did not provide them.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
Income Maintenance and Redistribution
Governments in modern industrial societies, capitalist and socialist
alike, have established agencies to administer a wide variety of
safety net programs designed to help people in financial
difficulty.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
Regulation
Most societies seek to regulate individuals and businesses to
ensure the safety of consumer products and the workplace, to
restrict the use of public lands, to protect the environment, and to
maintain the fairness of competition in the marketplace, among
many other purposes.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
Research
The market provides only things that people will buy, and basic
research is not easily packaged as a consumer product. When
societies want to engage in large-scale scientific work, bureaucrats
often play important roles. Private universities and even
corporations also make contributions to scientific knowledge, but
much of the most important basic researchsuch as space
exploration and advanced work in nuclear physicsis managed by
bureaucrats.

BUREAUCRATIC FUNCTIONS
Specialized Governmental Functions
Nearly all governments also provide a national currency and postal
services, with specialized bureaucratic agencies for each.

Management of State Enterprises

In most countries, even capitalist ones, some economic activities
are publicly owned. These include the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) and most municipal bus systems in the United States; the
computer, steel, and chemical industries

THE GROWTH OF BUREAUCRACY

Bureaucracies expand as modern societies develop. Legislatures
generally remain at a given size (although their staffs usually
constitute growing bureaucracies in their own right), and societies
usually do not increase the number of their chief executives.
Bureaucratic agencies multiply and expand, however, suggesting
that growth itself is possibly a universal characteristic of
bureaucracy.

THE GROWTH OF BUREAUCRACY

It reflects our growing need for bureaucracy: We need more
bureaucrats and agencies as scientific and technological advances
make government activity increasingly necessary.
As societies become industrialized, the tasks of monitoring and
controlling pollution, regulating the safety of the workplace, and
ensuring that consumer products are not harmful become more
important and more difficult.
Advances in science and industrial development eventually require
government involvement as research expenses outstrip the
resources of private organizations.

POSITIVE QUALITIES OF BUREAUCRACY:

EFFICIENCY AND RESPONSIBILITY
Bureaucratic organization is the only way to approach acceptable
levels of efficiency and responsibility.
Before governments instituted bureaucracies, tasks were randomly
assigned to amateurs who held positions on the basis of their
friendship with a monarch or a politician.
It was impossible to determine which person was responsible for
which decision, and there was little specialized training.
In contrast, core bureaucratic principlesclear lines of
specialization and the strict application of written rules

A PERSISTENT BUREAUCRATIC PROBLEM:

RIGIDITY AND RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Rigidity
Bureaucracy is slow to adapt to new programs, conditions, or special
concerns. It is not usually known for its encouragement of innovation.
According to Charles Goodsells popular book on U.S bureaucracy,
bureaucrats are no less flexible, tolerant, and creative than other
peopleperhaps they are a little more so.

Rules and Routines

First, the same routineswritten rules and proceduresthat make
possible the efficient processing of typical cases and decisions also make
it difficult for bureaucracy to make adjustments or modifications when a
special case arises

A PERSISTENT BUREAUCRATIC
PROBLEM: RIGIDITY AND RESISTANCE
TO CHANGE
Communication Problems
Communication is made difficult when each persons
responsibilities are rigidly set. Bureaucrats have fixed
jurisdictions and specialized responsibilities so that they can
become experts in a narrow range of tasks and so that it will
be clear who is responsible for which job

REPRESENTATIVE VS NEUTRAL
The President is the representative of the people.
The President appoints people in a certain office.
These people are loyal and willing to work for the representative of the people (which is
the President)
VS
Appointed/hired bureaucrats based on their skills and expertise.
Exercise neutrality