Bureaucracy: Critical Analyses

Conceptual Analysis:

Government system depends on bureaucracy, without which no modern government can function. It is difficult to define bureaucracy due to its diversified nature. It brings different meanings to different people.

To a layman it means red tape, inefficiency and abuse of power. To a political scientist it can mean a system of government where officials at upper levels given due consideration. To a student of organization, it refers to the structure found in modern large organizations.

For a clearer and better understanding of the concept Martin Albrow suggested 7 modern concepts of bureaucracy.

1.      Bureaucracy as rational organization.

2.      Bureaucracy as organizational inefficiency.

3.      Bureaucracy as rule by officials.

4.      Bureaucracy as Public administration

5.      Bureaucracy as administration by officials

6.      Bureaucracy as the organization

7.      Bureaucracy as modern society

Max Weber on Bureaucracy

Max Weber based his theory of bureaucracy on his typology of authority system.

Max Weber® “Authority is the willing and unconditional compliance of people, resting upon their belief that it is legitimate for the superior to impose his will on them and illegitimate for them to refuse to obey.”

People’s willingness to obey which stems from their belief that it is right to obey and wrong to refuse obedience.

Authority and power are separate but closely related concepts.

Power is the ability to force people to obey despite of their resistance. It means that a person is in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance.

Authority is the right to act. Authority lies with the formal position and whoever occupies it shall exercise and issue orders and commands.

Thus compared to power authority is characterized by legitimacy. Power + legitimacy = Authority

Weber said that, administration means exercise of authority. Weber classified authority into three types.

1.     Traditional authority. This type of authority is based on customs, usages and precedents. People obey because the tradition or the customs dictates they must do so.

2.     Charismatic Authority. This type of authority is based on exceptional personal traits of the ruler. The term charisma means the gift of grace. A significant feature of the charismatic authority system is that it is unstable, it breaks down when the leader dies or when the charismatic qualities of the leader declines.

3.     Legal-rational Authority. It is based on laws, rules and regulations. This system is called legal because authority is exercised by means of a system of rules and procedures. It is called rational because in it the means are expressly designed to achieve certain specific ends.

Weber based his theory of Bureaucratic Management on legal-rational authority. Bureaucracy according to Weber, is rationally organized action and rationality provides it with technical superiority and effectiveness over other forms of administration.

Criticisms of Weberian Bureaucracy

Weber’s concept of bureaucracy created a great deal of criticism among scholars and researchers in social sciences.

 

Robert K. Merton

Robert Merton was the first to challenge the Weberian concept of bureaucracy. He argues that while Weber elucidated the positive aspects of a bureaucratic organization like hierarchy, precision and rules he completely neglected the consequences of adhering to such a formal structure.

In his famous article “Bureaucratic Structure & Personality” Merton points out how the structural arrangements and behavioral requirements of a bureaucratic organization produce unintended negative consequences. According to Merton “Although being rational the Weberian organization can produce results detrimental to the overall goals of the organization.”

First, he argued that the strict adherence to the rules results in the displacement of goals, whereby an instrumental value (means or rules) becomes a terminal value (ends). This develops into rigidity, formalism and ritualism.

Second, an over concern with rules and regulations complicates the job and creates late in work, conservativeness and technical complexities.

Third, bureaucratic structure leads the personnel to defend their entrenched interests rather than assist their clientele.

Alvin W. Gouldner

In his book “Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy” he pointed that the promulgation of rules as a control mechanism produces tension between the managers and the subordinates leading to the displacement of the organizational goals.

Michel Crozier

Crozier described bureaucracy as a rigid organization that cannot correct its behavior by learning from its errors (pl. add more from Khan sir’s book).

Victor A. Thompson

He described the unintended consequences of bureaucracy as bureaupathology ( a disease of bureaucracy). (pl. add more from Khan sir’s book).

Robert Presthus

He stated that Weber’s model is not suitable for developing countries, as it is a product of western culture.( pl. add more from Khan sir’s book).