We explain what bureaucracy is, why it is criticized, its advantages and characteristics. Also, what is bureaucracy according to Max Weber.
What is bureaucracy?
The bureaucracy is a method of organization through administrative procedures or processes. It is characterized by a rational and formal distribution of responsibilities and work, as well as hierarchical control of administrative relationships. Bureaucratic functions are normally carried out through written documents.
In other words, bureaucracy is a way of organizing any activity, through the control and formal distribution of the procedures that it implies.
It is a term widely used in sociology and public administration, formed by the French voice bureau (“desk”) and the Greek word kratos (“government” or “power”). Considered in this way, bureaucracy is the exercise of power from a desk or an office, something that characterizes those who today we call bureaucrats or officials.
To take into account: In colloquial language, bureaucracy is usually called the aspects of public or private administration that have to do with paperwork, through which institutions control the legal and administrative procedures that regulate daily life: legal procedures, income to the hospital, sales operations, among others.
By extension, paperwork of any kind is often called bureaucracy, with a derogatory sense associated with the unnecessary complication of procedures that would otherwise be simple.
Key points
- Bureaucracy is a professional organizational method based on a formal division of tasks and hierarchical control of administrative processes.
- The sociologist Max Weber characterized it as an improvement over previous administrative systems because it introduces impersonal and uniform rules that favor efficiency.
- Its advantages include the standardization of administrative processes, efficiency for large-scale management and the use of written records that preserve documentary backups.
- It is often criticized for the rigidity of its rules and the complexity of administrative processes that can make the simplest procedures cumbersome.
Characteristics of bureaucracy
Bureaucracy can be characterized, broadly speaking, as follows:
- It is a form of administrative organization based on professional management, division of labor, staff permanence, hierarchical control, strict chain of command and legal authority.
- Administrative procedures are divided into different steps each of which must be carried out before a specific instance within an organizational hierarchy.
- The officials or clerks are in charge of controlling and supervising each of these steps for which they exercise formal authority and have a specific series of duties.
- Each step must meet requirements or precautions in order to advance to the next step.
- Official positions are not heritable or personal nor are the officials owners of the administrative resources they use. However, they are responsible for the correct use of said resources.
- The entire procedure is based on written documents endorsed by each of the instances to be covered.
Bureaucracy according to Max Weber
One of the great theorists of bureaucracy was the German sociologist and economist Max Weber (1864-1920), who is credited with incorporating this term into modern academic vocabulary. According to their point of view, bureaucracy is, in itself, a positive element which surpasses previous historical alternatives, sustained by charisma, tradition and personal relationships.
That is, the bureaucracy introduced clear, uniform and official rules for the administration of the State impersonal in nature and therefore the same for everyone, which makes them more efficient on a large scale and less subject to personal opinion or the discretion of administrators.
Weber recognizes that, sometimes, bureaucracy can hinder or slow down the processes that should be streamlined since there is no perfect organizational system. But he considers that, compared to the systems of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, bureaucracy constitutes a step forward in the management of modern States.
Advantages of bureaucracy
The advantages of bureaucracy can be summarized as:
- The standardization and homogenization of administrative processes which now have clear and obvious rules, the same for everyone.
- Greater control of the administrative process during any of its stages since they are all under the authority of some department or body of officials that has organizational continuity beyond changes in institutional authorities.
- Its democratic character in the sense that it does not distinguish between ethnicity, sex or social classes, but rather offers all people the same path to completing the corresponding procedures.
- The fact that it leaves backups of everything done since it works on the basis of written documents and records of various types.
- Its effectiveness on a large scale since it is a standardized and repetitive system that allows a large number of procedures to be managed in a short time.
Criticism of bureaucracy
The main criticisms of bureaucracy are:
- Its rigidity and inertia in some administrative processes which delay the necessary changes by strictly adhering to the standard, or make it inefficient in the face of unusual or exceptional cases.
- Creating more rules and processes which makes the structure more complex and the procedures slower and more cumbersome, even to the point of generating contradictory rules.
- The risk of nepotism , corruption politicization and other practices that can violate the objectivity of the procedures and the hiring of bureaucratic personnel.
- Excessive supervision and control which duplicates efforts, wastes resources and time, and results in inefficiency.
- Administrative process
- Administration history
- Government
- political power
References
- Graeber, D. (2015). The utopia of norms. Of technology, stupidity and the secret pleasures of bureaucracy. Ariel.
- Rockman, B. (2024). Bureaucracy. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
- Weber, M. (2000). What is bureaucracy? The Aleph.com.
