Assignment 2

Lucas Seewald

S1506005

Introduction to Public administration

Assignment: Though the bureaucracy is nowadays a very unpopular organizational structure,

many public (and also private!) organizations still have a predominantly bureaucratic structure,
with a strong hierarchy, centralization of authority, and a lot of rules and procedures. Try to
explain why a bureaucratic structuring of public organizations seems almost inevitable.

Bureaucracy in very general terms refers to the administrative body implementing policies and

decisions of the governing body as well as to the body of non elected government officials.

Nowadays, it is often a term that has a negative connotation as it is judged as inefficient or/and

inflexible. The German sociologist Max Weber especially contributed a great deal to the

importance of Bureaucracy in modern life, as he saw it as a necessity and the most rational way

to organize human and maintain order.

First of all, it is important to mention that rationality is at the core of bureaucracy. Rationality is

aimed at maximizing efficiency and effectiveness. This rationality for example leads to a specific

and clearly defined office sphere, creating a hierarchy in which there are defined legal

authorities, or in other words; creating a bureaucratic structure where every official has a

clearly defined position based on technical qualifications and in which officials are subject to

strict controls and discipline. Hence, establishing bureaucracy as a protection against corruption

but also making it highly efficient as each office has distinct goals. Making it the most rational

structure of setting up an organization. Hence, bureaucracy is inevitable because it is the most

efficient, the most predictable and most importantly the utmost rational way of exercising
authority in any organization (Sager and Rosser, 1137). Bureaucracy maintains order and

eradicates favouritism as it entails certain rules that need to be obeyed in order for the entire

structure to function.

Of course, in order for such a structure to work, the right kind of professionals have to be

appointed. Thus, in a Weberian Bureaucracy are bound by rules and elected by

competencies. Hence, the hierarchical pyramid is appointed on the basis of qualifications and

skills rather than their ancestry, special connections or friendships. Furthermore, the public

servants education is important as bureaucrats are supposed to be highly educated

professionals (Sager and Rosser, 1137). Therefore, to make the state more efficient as well, a

clear distinction needs to be made between a politician and a public administrator. The

politician has to fulfil his/her duties and moral obligations, especially during a legislative period.

The public administrator executes duties and legal obligations without any doubts, taking

distance from politics.

To conclude, from a purely rational point of view bureaucracy is the most logical way of

structuring any organization. It seems almost impossible to have a completely non bureaucratic

organization without any sort of hierarchy unless the company or organization is still very small

e.g. 2 employees. However, when this 2 men/women company grows bigger, bureaucracy will

be needed to keep it organized and to define the companies goals, increase it efficiency and

ultimately make it competitive. Staying competitive is not possible without running an

organization in the most efficient way possible. If a company can not be competitive it will fail.
Hence, the implementation of bureaucracy in most organizations and companies will be

inescapable. Even though Max Weber contributed a large part to the modern adaptation of

bureaucracy, he was not completely admiring it as he also pointed towards to possible negative

outcomes. Weber saw bureaucracy and especially the rationalization of everything as a threat

to a humans individual freedom and decision making. Ethics, values and morals are in danger

of being ignored when rationalization dominates. For example, morally questionable business

deals or decision will be agreed to for the sake of efficiency as rationally it is the best choice.

Works Cited
Sager, Fritz, and Christian Rosser. "Weber, Wilson, and Hegel: eories of Modern Bureaucracy."
Public Administration Review, 2009: 1136-1147.