ipl-logo

The Four Main Characteristics Of Bureaucracy In Public Administration

872 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Characteristics of bureaucracy as postulated by max weber

1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of bureaucracy in public administration.
The paper first defines what bureaucracy and public administration are. Further looks at the characteristics of bureaucracy, according to Max Weber (1864-1920) and the functions of bureaucracy in public policy and government and lastly the dysfunctional of bureaucracy.
2. Definition of terms
2.1 What is Bureaucracy
There is no single common definition of what bureaucracy really is. However, there is a general agreement on the characteristics of bureaucracy. For the purpose of this paper, it will define bureaucracy as the set of regulations placed by governments to control activity in government or private organizations. Bureaucrats …show more content…

According to Webber (1922: 129), bureaucracy is an abstract system for rational solutions of management problems without the friction caused by human errors and emotions. Hence bureaucratic organizations carry out ‘imperative control’ over humans. For the purposes of this paper, it will focus on the four main characteristics of bureaucracy. Hierarchy of authority, bureaucracies has a steady link of command, per se. Every worker has their own place within the link, therefore, everyone 's work is overseen by someone on the next level, up. Power flows down from the top of the hierarchy and becomes less as it approaches the bottom of the link. Division of labour, According to Heywood (2002:359), bureaucracy is the administrative machinery of the government. Nearly every task is broken down into its ‘component’ parts, and different people work on different parts of the task. All together they get the job done systematically. They divide their labour for maximum efficiency. A set of formal rules, these are specific to the operation that describes the activities necessary to complete tasks in accordance with the rules of the institute at every hierarchical level. These are the sophisticated system of communication that keeps their job running smoothly. And lastly, Specialization, everyone well within the bureaucracy has a specific duty to perform them then become experts …show more content…

Neither of them can work without each other. The government is responsible for the governance and administration, it sets the ‘target’ and the bureaucracy fulfilled these targets. According to Heywood (2002:362), Government is responsible for the formulation, implementation, evaluation and monitoring its projects and programs .while bureaucracy has more knowledge, experience, time and intergovernmental ties then the government. Hence, both are related to each other they. According to Du Toit, et al. (2006: page), the main function or goal of the government is to promote the general welfare. Looking at the rapid growth of the population, the government, therefore, needs to render more goods and services to promote the general welfare. As government sometimes do not work honestly and accordingly, there are so many cases of corruption and crimes. Expectations of people are increasing day by day. Hence, Bureaucracy is the only options for the welfare of people and people trust it more than the

Show More
Related

The Federal Bureaucracy Implementing Policy

398 Words | 2 Pages

The most important thing that the bureaucracy does is implement policy. Congress and the President make the policies and laws, but they have someone else (the bureaucracy) to implement them. However, they also make policy by rule-making (process of defining rules or standards that apply uniformly to classes of individuals, events, and activities). Also, according to Jillson (2016), "Congress passes laws that authorize government programs, the bureaucracy then writes specific rules that define how the program will be administered." So, when the bureaucracy makes rules you have to obey them because they have the force of law.

Read More

How Did Thomas Jefferson Influence The Declaration Of Independence

1084 Words | 5 Pages

Public administration, the art of turning big policy ideas into solid results, ranks among the very oldest of intellectual disciplines. As long as people have been documenting history, they have been writing about administration and governance. This can be traced all the way back to the first five books of the Bible; covering the study of organization, rule making, and bureaucratization to ensure that the Israelites walked in God’s ways. Also, Caesar’s commentary on the Gallic wars covers the administrative and political challenges he faced in subduing the Gauls and conquering Britain. Public administration is not only concerned with getting the government to work well, but also in relation to both promoting and limiting the exercise of

Read More

The Purpose Of The Federal Bureaucracy

419 Words | 2 Pages

The Federal Bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of government or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institutions. Essentially, Congress and the president create laws that are vague. The bureaucracy is responsible for figuring out how to implement these vague laws in our society through regulations, forms and rules. The Bureaucracy consists of 500 departments with roughly 2.6 million employees. Although, the bureaucracy is not actually a branch of government it does have influence over the decisions of the three branches government.

Read More

Bureaucracy In The 1800's

897 Words | 4 Pages

In the late 1700’s, when America just established its own government, there weren’t as many bureaucracies as there are today. Many factors contributed to the increase in bureaucracies, such as the size of the government, population, and economy. FDR, with his New Deal that created thousands of new jobs (many being part of different agencies and corporations), helped to increase the size of bureaucracies. Just like in the past, there were things that hadn’t existed until today. In the future, there will be things that wasn’t heard of today.

Read More

Bureaucracy: The Pros And Cons Of A Bureaucratic Government

1717 Words | 7 Pages

They are in a generation where they accept the logic of organizational power in short being a conformist. Even though a bureaucratic system is obvious in our government today we are still not made aware of it specially its complications and its consequences. Up to this date we still experience complications in a bureaucratic government also in a bureaucracy mandated business. A bureaucratic government isn’t all negative it has its pro’s specially being a well-organized government as well as a well-organized business organization. but in this paper were going to talk moreover on the negative or the cons of a bureaucratic government.

Read More

The Purpose Of An Effective Government System

678 Words | 3 Pages

An effective government system protects the rights of its people and keeps its citizens safe from harm. The purpose of the government is to protect its citizens by securing the safety of them, and by providing for citizen 's needs. While other concerns, such as the economy and a less intrusive government may be present, a government 's duty is to provide for and protect its citizens. Without people 's concerns for how their needs will be provided or how they will be protected from a threat, the citizens will be able to live with a sense of security.

Read More

Totalitarianism Vs Bureaucracy

1232 Words | 5 Pages

Paper Four “To be superfluous means not to belong to the world at all” – (pp 475) Arendt views large, superfluous masses of people as a necessary precursor for the transition from a totalitarian movement to a totalitarian rule. These masses, formed from the atomization of the class system in a society, serve several purposes which allow for successful totalitarian rule: they help to act as the popular lever by which a totalitarian movement may secure power, they carry out the rote functions of the totalitarian rule, and most critically, they are killed or imprisoned in droves as a means of demonstrating and employing the power of the totalitarian system. This final purpose, the continual destruction of random portions of the atomized masses,

Read More

Lipsky Street-Level Bureaucracy Summary

2492 Words | 10 Pages

In Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services, Lipsky defines street-level bureaucrats as the “teachers, police officers and other law enforcement personnel, social workers, judges, public lawyers and other court officers, health workers, and many other public employees who grant access to government programs and provide services within them” (1980, 3). The book provides us with an insight into the everyday life of a street-level bureaucrat and shows their unmistakable role in delivering social services. Lipsky believes policy is best understood when looking at the people at the forefront of the implementation process; those that have to deal with both the government and the public. Overall, I found this book extremely

Read More

Identify And Explain The Difference Between Weber And Foucault

1987 Words | 8 Pages

The top management is the one who look after the entire bureaucracy. Weber suggests the bureaucracy within organisations are more rigid and authoritative, tend to be centralised, highly specialised, do not encourage empowerment, and high formalisation (Best, 2002). As a results, Weber’s conception of power connected with his interest in bureaucracy and office hierarchy (Sadan, 2004). Many organisations rely on bureaucracies to operate whether it is private or public sector such as government, hospitals, and schools. Therefore, everyone must follows the standardised procedures in order to produces similar results in the productivity and to promote the efficient attainment of the organization 's

Read More

Proverbs Of Administration Analysis

1197 Words | 5 Pages

The reading “The Proverbs of Administration” written by Herbert A. Simon analyzes the elements under the administrative theory. The author provides a diagnosis of the elements by presenting a different shift to the study that reveal that under different situations some elements are not clearly defined or established. The reading begins it discussion by analyzing the types of “accepted criteria” of administrative principles such as dividing the workers in four types of segments. Simon argued, “Administrative efficiency is increased by grouping the workers, for purposes of control, according to (a) purpose, (b) process, (c) clientele, or (d) place…” (p.103). In the same way, other accepted criteria for administrative efficiency are specialization,

Read More

Apple, Inc.: Organizational Structure Of Apple Inc

791 Words | 4 Pages

The German sociologist Max Weber [3] described many ideal-typical forms of public administration, government, and business. Weber agreed that bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and rational way in which human activity can be organized, and that thus is indispensable to the modern

Read More

Different Types Of Government Essay

1511 Words | 7 Pages

In order to compare and contrast varying types of government within two or more countries, one must have a clear definition of Government and know the purposes it serves. Therefore, I did some research and I have established that Government is a group that exercises dominant power over a nation, state, society or other body of people. Governments are commonly responsible for constructing and implementing laws, handling money, and defending the general population from external threats, and may have other obligations or privileges. All over the world, there are many different types of government within countries. Each kind has its advantages as well as disadvantages regarding the general well-being of its peoples and economy.

Read More

8 Principles Of Max Weber's Bureaucratic Management Theory

1901 Words | 8 Pages

Written Rules According to this theory, there should be well standardized rules and regulations in organization. These rules should well defined and in written foam (McNamra, 2010 and Olum, 2004). 2. System of Task Relationship

Read More

Max Weber's Theory: Types Of Leadership

1637 Words | 7 Pages

This style of leadership can be advantageous in highly regulated lines of business, and it can be an efficient management style in companies that don 't require much creativity or innovation from employees. Bureaucratic leadership is one of the most prevalent forms of management today. Weber 's Ideal Bureaucracy is characterized by the following: ~Hierarchical Organization ~Delineated Lines Of Authority With Fixed Areas Of Activity ~Action

Read More

Importance Of Max Weber Bureaucracy

1371 Words | 6 Pages

2) Charismatic authority; where acceptance comes from faithfulness to and beliefs, personal qualities of the rulers. 3) Rational-legal authority; where acceptance came from the office, or position, persons authorized as limited by the rules and procedures of the organization. According to Weber, bureaucracy is a goal-oriented organization that operates efficiently to achieve their goals according to rational principles. And also, according to Weber, bureaucratic organizations operate “sine ira ac studio, meaning without a sense of bias of favor, relying solely on a professional decision-maker” (Rheinstein, 1954, 190-2). Hierarchical bureaucracy is one of the key features and essential in an organization.

Read More

More about The Four Main Characteristics Of Bureaucracy In Public Administration

Related Topics

Open Document