Weber, Bureaucracy
Max Weber, according to many, introduced the concept into modern academic vocabulary, based on the study of continental European public administration systems of his time. For Weber, bureaucracy has a positive connotation, as it is a more rational system than previous alternatives, administrative systems that base authority on tradition or charisma.
According to Weber, bureaucracy is a system of legal government or control (insofar as it is subject to explicit and general rules). It is impersonal (that is, authority goes to those with the capacity to perform certain functions, determined by established criteria related to task performance and not based on individuals determined either by tradition or charisma; see also "Meritocracy"), efficient, effective, and enduring (to the extent that it rationally distributes and allocates functions and powers at appropriate levels), and tends to reduce social inequalities (to the extent that, on the one hand, it distributes authority and, on the other, access to that authority and its potential privileges are not passed down from generation to generation). However, Weber also emphasized that bureaucracy can become ossified, as those with power seek to preserve it; and/or it can lack flexibility, for example, when faced with individual or special cases.
Criticisms [edit]
Max Weber himself perceived that there can truly be no ideal type of organization. Therefore, real bureaucracy will be less optimal and effective than its ideal model. According to Weber, it can degenerate in the following ways:
• The vertical hierarchy of authority may not be sufficiently explicit or delineated, causing confusion and conflicts of authority.
• Powers may be unclear and used contrary to the spirit of the rules; sometimes the procedure itself may be considered more important than the decision or, in general, its effects.
• Nepotism, corruption, political clashes, and other degenerations can counteract the rule of impersonality, potentially creating a hiring and promotion system not based on merit.
• Officials may evade responsibility. • The distribution of functions can be ineffective, producing excessive regulatory activity, duplication of efforts, and, in general, inefficiency.10
Even a non-degenerate bureaucracy can be affected by certain problems:
• Overspecialization.
• Rigidity and inertia in processes, making decisions slow or impossible to implement when unusual cases arise, and also delaying changes, evolution, and adaptation of old processes to new circumstances;
• An assumption that the system is always perfect and correct by definition, making its organization unwilling to change and self-criticism;
• Little respect for dissenting opinions;
• Creation of more and more rules and processes, increasing their complexity and decreasing their coordination, facilitating the creation of contradictory rules.