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A Project on

Bureaucracy: An analysis of Weberian perspective


Submitted By
Anant Ekka
Roll No. 26
BA LLB (HONS)
Semester II Batch XIII (A)
Submitted To
Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda
(Faculty Sociology)

HIDAYATULLAH

NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY
RAIPUR CHHATTISGARH
Submitted On 16th November, 2015

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
RESESEARCH METHDOLOGY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

INTRODUCTION...04
BUREAUCRACY.......05
FEATURES OF BUREAUCRACY....05
ADVANTAGES OF BUREAUCRACY........08
DISADVANTAGES OF BUREAUCRACY..08
PROBLEMS.08
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7. CONCLUSION10
8. REFERENCE11

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to thank my Sociology sir Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda for
offering this subject, Bureaucracy: an analysis of Weberian perspective and for his
valuable guidance and advice. He inspired me greatly to work in this project. His willingness
to motivate me contributed tremendously to my project. I also would like to thank him for
showing me some example that related to the topic of my project.
Besides, I would like to thank the Hidayatullah National Law University for providing me
with a good environment and facilities to complete this project.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all my friends who helped me do this project by
sharing their ideas when we combined and discussed together.
_____________________
ANANT EKKA

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OBJECTIVE

To study Webers bureaucracy.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Design of the study: The research is descriptive and analytical in nature.
This research paper is descriptive and analytical based on secondary sources, i.e., books and
electronic sources (internet).
Books and other references as guided by Faculty of Sociology have been primarily helpful in
giving this project a firm structure. Websites, dictionaries and articles have also been referred.

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INTRODUCTION
The German sociologist Max Weber described many ideal-typical forms of public
administration, government, and business in his 1922 essay, The Nature, Conditions, and
Development of Bureaucratic Herrschaft published in his magnum opus, Economy and
Society. His critical study of the bureaucratisation of society became one of the most
enduring parts of his work. It was Weber who began the studies of bureaucracy and whose
works led to the popularization of this term. Many aspects of modern public administration go
back to him, and a classic, hierarchically organized civil service of the Continental type is
called "Weberian civil service".
As the most efficient and rational way of organizing, bureaucratization for Weber was the key
part of the rational-legal authority, and furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the
ongoing rationalization of the Western society. Although he is not necessarily an admirer of
bureaucracy, Weber does agree that bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and (formally)
rational way in which human activity can be organized, and that thus is indispensable to the
modern world.
Weber's ideal-typical bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical organization, delineated
lines of authority in a fixed area of activity, action taken on the basis of and recorded in
written rules, bureaucratic officials need expert training, rules are implemented by neutral
officials, career advancement depends on technical qualifications judged by organization, not
individuals.

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Bureaucracy
It was Max Webber who propounded the bureaucratic theory of organisation and
management.
The term bureaucracy has been widely used with invidious connotations directed at
government and business. Bureaucracy is an administrative system designed to accomplish
large-scale administrative tasks by systematically coordinating the work of many individuals.
Weber has observed three types of power in organisations: traditional, charismatic and
rational-legal or bureaucratic. He has emphasised that bureaucratic type of power is the ideal
one.

Features (Characteristics) Of Webers Bureaucracy


Weber has given a number of features of bureaucracy. Accordingly, following features
suggest the characteristics of bureaucratic organisations.

1. Administrative Class:
Bureaucratic organisations generally have administrative class responsible for maintaining
coordinative activities of the members.
Main features of his class are as follows:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

People are paid and are whole time employees,


They receive salary and other perquisites normally based on their positions,
Their tenure in the organisation is determined by the rules and regulations of the

(iv)
(v)

organisation,
They do not have any proprietary interest in the organisation,
They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their competence.

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2. Hierarchy:
The basic feature of bureaucratic organisation is that there is hierarchy of positions in the
organisation. Hierarchy is a system of ranking various positions in descending scale from top
to bottom of the organisation. In bureaucratic organisation, offices also follow the principle of
hierarchy that is each lower office is subject to control and supervision by higher office.
Thus, no office is left uncontrolled in the organisation. This is the fundamental concept of
hierarchy in bureaucratic organisation. This hierarchy serves as lines of communication and
delegation of authority. It implies that communication coming down or going up must pass
through each position.
Similarly, a subordinate will get authority from his immediate superior. However, this
hierarchy is net unitary but sub-pyramids of officials within the large organisation
corresponding etc. functional divisions exist.
Thus, there are offices with the same amount of authority but with different kinds of
functions operating in different areas of competence. For example, the Government
organisations, we can observe separate offices looking after particular functions. This
happens in business organisations too.

3. Division of Work:
Work of the organisation is divided on the basis of specialisation to take the advantages of
division of labour. Each office in the bureaucratic organisation has specific sphere of
competence.
This involves:
(i) a sphere of obligations to perform functions which has been marked off as part of a
systematic division of labour;
(ii) the provision of the incumbent with necessary authority to carry out these functions; and
(iii) the necessary means of compulsion are clearly defined and their use is subject to definite
conditions.
Thus, division of labour try to ensure that each office has a clearly-defined area of
competence within the organisation and each official knows the areas in which he operates
and the areas in which he must abstain from action so that he does not overstep the boundary
between his role and those of others. Further, division of labour also tries to ensure that no
work is left uncovered.

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4. Official Rules:
A basic and most emphasised feature of bureaucratic organisation is that administrative
process is continuous and governed by official rules. Bureaucratic organisation is the
antithesis of ad hoc, temporary, and temporary and unstable relations. A rational approach to
organisation calls for a system of maintaining rules to ensure twin requirements of uniformity
and coordination of efforts by individual members in the organisation.
These rules are more or less stable and more or less exhaustive. When there is no rule on any
aspect of organisational operation, the matter is referred upward for decision which
subsequently becomes precedent for future decision on the similar matter. Rules provide the
benefits of stability, continuity, and predictability and each official knows precisely the
outcome of his behaviour in a particular matter.

5. Impersonal Relationships:
A notable feature of bureaucracy is that relationships among individuals are governed through
the system of official authority and rules. Official positions are free from personal
involvement, emotions and sentiments. Thus, decisions are governed by rational factors
rather than personal factors. This impersonality concept is used in dealing with organisational
relations as well as relations between the organisation and outsiders.

6. Official Record:
Bureaucratic organisation is characterized by maintenance of proper official records. The
decisions and activities of the organisation are formally recorded and preserved for future
reference. This is made possible by extensive use of filling system in the organisation. An
official record is almost regarded as encyclopedia of various activities performed by the
people in the organisation.

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Advantages of Bureaucracy
The following are the advantages of Bureaucracy:
1. The rules and procedures are decided for every work it leads to, consistency in employee
behaviour. Since employees are bound to follow the rules etc., the management process
becomes easy.
2. The duties and responsibilities of each job are clearly defined there is no question of
overlapping or conflicting job duties.
3. The selection process and promotion procedures are based on merit and expertise. It assists
in putting right persons on right jobs. There is optimum utilisation of human resources.
4. The division of labour assists workers in becoming experts in their jobs. The performance
of employees improves considerably.
5. The enterprise does not suffer when some persons leave it. If one person leaves then some
other occupies that place and the work does not suffer.

Disadvantages of Bureaucracy
The following are the disadvantages of Bureaucracy:
1. This system suffers from too much of red tape and paper work.
2. The employees do not develop belongingness to the organisation.
3. The excessive reliance on rules and regulations and adherence to these policies inhibit
initiative and growth of the employees. They are treated like machines and not like
individuals. There is neglect of human factor.
4. The employees become so used to the system, they resist to any change and introduction of
new techniques of operations.

Problems in Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy organisation has been considered once superior than ad hoc or temporary
structure. It has been termed as rational and ideal leading to efficiency. The efficiency in
bureaucratic organisation comes through rationality and predictability of behaviour because
everyone knows the consequence of his action become actually the action is undertaken.
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However, bureaucracy has been criticised because of its inefficiency and has been termed as a
symbol of inefficiency. There are many dis-functional aspects of bureaucracy which is
referred to as bureau pathology.
Looking into the needs of modern organisations, bureaucracy has many shortcomings and is,
therefore, not suitable. The major problems of bureaucracy are because of the following
factors: invalidity of bureaucracy assumptions, goal displacement united consequences, in
human and closers-system perspective.

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Conclusion
Max Weber, a German Sociologist, developed a theory of authority structures and described
organizational activity based on authority relations. According to him, a system characterized
by division of labour, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and
impersonal relationships make ideal bureaucracy. He recognized that this ideal
bureaucracy did not exist in reality, but rather represented a selective reconstruction of the
real world.

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References
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shankar Rao C.N., Sociology, 6th Edition, 2010


Macionis, J. J., Society. Sociology , 7th ed.
Craig J. Calhoun,Classical sociological theory,(2011)

WEBLIOGRAPHY

www.sociology.org
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/conflict_theory/
www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html

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