AMIT KHAWAS
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (SOCIOLOGY)
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES
BA/LLB FIVE YEAR 3ST SEMESTER
BUREAUCRACY
ORIGIN OF THE TERM BUREAUCRACY
The term bureaucracy is derived from the Latin term 'bureau'.
Bureau means a writing table or desk. In French 'La Bure' or bureau
means a cloth used on tables of public authorities. Later 'bureau'
began to be ' used for the office room where table is kept. Thus by
18th century the term began to be used to refer to a place where
officials work.
During 18th and 19th centuries, the term was used consistently.
It meant power of officials in Public Administration. It’ was also
referred ' to the authority or power which the government
departments claim to them. The term bureaucracy was first coined by
a French economist, Vincent de Gournay in 1965.
MEANING OF BUREAUCRACY
The term 'bureaucracy' is being used with different meanings to
signify different things. After the term bureaucracy was coined by
Vincent de Gournay, it has attracted attention from a number of
scholars from different disciplines. It has its admirers as well as
opponents.
Max Weber, the Sociologist had almost "internalised" this
concept;' whereas writers like Warren Bennis condemned the
behavioural aspects of bureaucracy and even predicted 'its demise.
There are also other writers who took a balanced view of the
concept. Bureaucracy, however, was originally conceived as a
negative or perverse concept. It was Max Weber, a German
sociologist, who gave it a respectable and positive implication.
Bureaucracy, in its simplest form, can be seen as "officials in
power" or "a class of officials" or "bureaucrats exercising their
power to carry on their constitutional duties and obligations ".The
need, to use as an equivalent to the term "officials" or
"administrators”.
DEFINITIONS:
A number of writers and scholars described the term bureaucrats
to denote power managers in a system of government.
· J.S. Mill, denoted “bureaucracy as a ruling class of
officials”.
· Mosca described “bureaucracy as one classes of ruling elites
whose, rule is absolute”.
· Michels, has expanded the concept of “bureaucracy to include
salaried professionals in government and non-governmental agencies
such as political parties”.
· Writers like Ramsay Muir viewed “bureaucracy as permanent
officials and professional administrators”.
· Max Weber referred “bureaucracy as a positive, non-dominant
body”.
Features of Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy anywhere has certain, well-established features.
Some of the better known features are:
(i) Hierarchy
(ii) Chain of command
(iii) Adherence to rules and regulations
(iv) Impersonal / faceless and apolitical
(v) Recruitment through statutory bodies specifically created
for the purpose, etc.
These features are briefly described below.
1) Hierarchy: Essentially, bureaucracy is hierarchical. It is
based on rank. Each rank or position is subordinate to some and
superior to some other. The bottom to the top, generally, makes for
a pyramidal structure with the lower ranks concentrated at the
bottom and the higher ranks at the top.
2) Chain of Command: This feature is intimately linked with the
one above. In any hierarchical body, there is a chain of command
flowing from the top to the bottom. Normally, the command chain is
not broken. To give an example from the Indian context, in a
Department of the Central Government in Delhi, the chain of command
is as follows:
Secretary → Additional Secretary → Joint Secretary → Deputy
Secretary → Under Secretary → Section Officer → other lower
ranks.
3) Adherence to Rules and Regulations: A classic feature of
bureaucracies all along has been their rigid adherence to rules and
regulations. This has, in fact, led to the adjective “bureaucratic”
being coined for any person/organisation insisting too much on
rules, regulations and procedures.
4) Impersonal/Faceless and Apolitical:
A bureaucracy is supposed to be impersonal. This basically means
that a bureaucrat is expected to be guided by objective (as against
subjective) considerations while following rules and regulations in
the course of implementing various policy measures and directives.
In other words, a bureaucrat or a civil servant or a government
official whatever name we choose to call him by – is not supposed
to be guided by his personal whims and fancies, biases and
prejudices in the discharge of his official duties.
As regards the ‘faceless’ aspect, you perhaps are aware of the
fact that any civilian bureaucracy is subordinate to the political
executive. The political leadership is the face of the
administration, while the bureaucracy works behind the scenes. It
of course does not always happen but that is how it has been
envisaged.
Bureaucracy, strictly, is also supposed to be apolitical. This
basically implies that a bureaucrat is not to have a political
agenda of his own but rather, faithfully implement the policies of
the government of the day. It also has another and possibly more
important meaning and that is: a civil servant’s loyalty and
commitment should be to the constitution of the land and not to any
political party, politician, etc.
TYPES OF BUREAUCRACY
At different points of time in history the bureaucracy has taken
different shapes and forms based upon the socio-political
influences. Broadly, the bureaucracy is categorised into four types
by Morstein Marx viz.
1. Guardian Bureaucracy,
2. Caste Bureaucracy,
3. Patronage Bureaucracy, and
4. Merit Bureaucracy.
1. Guardian Bureaucracy
Plato's guardians have the capacity to personify in there,
actions, the essence of public interest. They were considered the
custodians of justice and welfare of the community. These guardians
were selected on the basis of their education. Such' bureaucracy
existed in China before 960 A.D. and in Russia between 640-1740
A.D. They were selected on the basis, of their scholastic
achievements and trained in right conduct according to
classics.
2. Caste Bureaucracy,
This bureaucracy is the result of class connections of those-in
power. . In this, recruitment is made only from one class. This
means persons belonging to higher classes or castes are only drawn
to the civil services. For example, in ancient ‘India, only
Brahmins and Kshatriyas could become higher officials. In England,
for example, aristocratic classes were preferred to the civil
service positions.
3. Patronage Bureaucracy
This type of bureaucracy is also called spoils system. Patronage
in this is seen as a means of political control. Under this system,
the patronages of the ministers or the elected functionaries are
nominated to the civil service. The public jobs are distributed as
personal or political favours to their supporters. In Britain,
before 19th century, the system sewed the aristocracy to gain
entirely into the civil services. But the system of patronage
bureaucracy was condemned for its lack of competence, for its
careless discipline, its concealed greediness, its irregular ways,
and for its absence of spirit of service.
4. Merit Bureaucracy
Merit bureaucracy is a response to the maladies of other types
of bureaucracies which we have discussed earlier. In this
bureaucracy recruitment is based on qualification and is governed
by objective, standards. In modern times merit bureaucracy puts
strong emphasis on political control over the administrative system
which was not the case in, other forms of bureaucracy. This,
bureaucracy has distinguished advantage over others due to its
sense of rationality in administrative behaviour.
MAX WEBER THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY
Max weber (1864-1920)
MAX WEBER: HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS
Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (21 April 1864 – 14 June 1920)
was a German sociologist, philosopher, jurist,
and political economist, who is regarded today as one of the
most important theorists on the development of modern Western
society. As his ideas profoundly influence social
theory and social research. Max Weber was born in 1864
in Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Prussia.
Family Weber was the eldest son of Max and Helene Weber. His
father was an aspiring liberal politician. The Weber mother was
raised in Calvinist orthodoxy. As a result, her
husband’s social activities distanced her from him, especially when
he spurned her prolonged grief following the deaths of two of their
children. He, in turn, adopted a
traditionally authoritarian manner at home and demanded
absolute obedience from wife and children. It is thought that this
bleak home environment, marked by conflicts between Weber’s
parents, contributed to the inner agonies that haunted Weber in his
adult life.
Education
Weber left home to enroll at the University of
Heidelberg in 1882, interrupting his studies after two years
to fulfill his year of military service at Strassburg. During this
time he became very close to the family of his mother’s sister, Ida
Baumgarten, and to her husband, the historian Hermann
Baumgarten, who had a profound influence on
Weber’s intellectual development. After his release from
the military, however, Weber was asked by his father to finish his
studies at the University of Berlin.
Career
He spent his mid- and late 20s working simultaneously in two
unpaid internships—as a lawyer’s assistant and as a university
assistant—he could not afford to live on his own until the autumn
of 1893. At that time he received a temporary position
teaching jurisprudence at the University of Berlin and
married Marianne Schnitger who become his biographer and the editor
of his collected works. Marianne Weber was also a distinguished
sociologist in her own right and an early figure in the field of
feminist sociology. One year after his appointment at Berlin,
he became a full professor in political economy at
Freiburg, and the following year (1896) he attained that position
at Heidelberg.
WORK OF MAX WEBER
Max Weber wrote
· The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism (1904–05),
· Economy and Society (1922),
· General Economic History (1923)
THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY
Bureaucracy was discussed prior to Weber’s writings. The
invention of word bureaucracy belongs to Vincent de Gourney, a
French economist in 1745. It rapidly became a standard and accepted
term in the conventions of political discourse. By the end of 19th
century the term was widely held to have been of German origin.
J.S. Mill, an eminent political scientist included bureaucracy in
his series of analysis. Karl Marx also discussed about bureaucracy
at certain places. According to Marx, bureaucracy like a state
itself is an instrument by which the dominant class exercise its
domination over the other social classes. Hegel conceived the
governing bureaucracy of public administration as a bridge between
the state and the civil society.
The above discussion shows that there existed a bureaucracy much
earlier to Weberian writings and also there were attempts to
understand the bureaucracy by different writings. But the Weber is
considered to be the first person to attempt at the systematic
understanding of the bureaucracy.
MAX WEBER ON AUTHORITY
Max Weber’s concept of bureaucracy is closely related to his
ideas on legitimacy of authority. Weber differentiated authority,
power and control. Authority means the authoritarian power of
command. In other words, he raised the question as to how one
person exercises power over others. His answer was that the
exercise of power becomes acceptable if it is justified or
legitimised, in some way. Authority is state of reality where a
person willingly complies with legitimate commands or orders
because he considers that a person by virtue of his position could
issue orders to him. The authority exists as long as it is accepted
as legitimate by the ruled. Thus, an administrator or organisation
can rule only when it has legitimacy.
TYPES OF AUTHORITY
Since Weber believed that authority could be exercised as long
as it is legitimate he divided the authority in to three types
based on sources of legitimacy for each authority. Weber classified
authority in to three types based on its claim to legitimacy. They
are:
(1) Traditional authority,
(2) Charismatic authority and
(3) legal-rational authority.
(1) Traditional authority:
In this kind of authority a command is obeyed because of the
belief in age-old customs, traditions, conventions and beliefs.
Traditional authority is based on the belief that what is customary
is right. It is exemplified by the rule of kings in olden days. If
it was customary that only persons of a ' certain high caste should
be appointed to high positions, this principle was accepted as
just. In other words, the merit of an individual was given less
importance than the caste to which he belonged. In traditional
authority new rules are not enacted, they are “found”. The only
documents in the administration of law are the “documents of
tradition”. Under the traditional authority a person enjoy
authority by virtue of their inherited status. The persons who obey
orders are called ‘followers’. They carry out the commands out of
personal loyalty to the ruler and pious regard for his time
honoured ‘status’. The system retains legitimacy as long as the
customs and traditions are respected in the organisation.
(2) Charismatic authority:
The term charisma (gift of grace) is taken from the vocabulary
of early Christianity. Here it is applied supernatural, super human
or extraordinary qualities of a leader. Among the holders of
charisma is the sorcerer, the prophet or the warrior of chieftain,
mahatma, or gurus. In this type of authority obedience was
justified because the person giving order had some sacred or
outstanding character. The leader exercises authority based on his
personal qualities rather than formal stipulations or prescribed
norms. The only basis of legitimacy is personal charisma. He can
exercise his authority, so long as it is proved, that is so long as
it receives recognition and is able to satisfy the followers. Under
this authority the leader selects his disciples or followers as his
officials based on their personal devotion to him rather than their
special qualifications or status. These ‘disciple officials’
constitute an organisation and their sphere of activity and power
of command depends upon likes and dislikes of the leader.
(3) legal-rational authority
Law is another name for a rational principle. Hence legal
domination is based upon belief in the desirability of rational
principles. The application of reason leads to efficiency.
Obedience is owed to the legally established impersonal order. It
extends to the persons exercising the authority of office only by
virtue of the formal legality. Manifestations of legal authority
are found in organisations where rules are applied judicially and
in accordance with ascertainable principles valid for all members
in the organisation. The members who exercise power under this
authority are the superiors and are appointed or elected by legal
procedures to maintain the legal orders. Weber considers the legal
authority as the most rational form of authority. Of all the three
types of authority Weber considers the legal authority, not only
the most rational authority, but also the most efficient form of
authority. He considers bureaucracy as legal-rational type of
authority.
MAX WEBER: THE CONCEPT OF BUREAUCRACY
Weber never defined bureaucracy. He only described it as “an
administrative body of appointed officials”. He also described its
characteristics. Bureaucracy includes explicitly appointed
officials only leaving out the elected ones. Weber wrote a great
deal about the place of the official in a modern society. For him,
it has an increasingly important type of social role. As in the
case of authority, Weber categorised bureaucracy in to (1)
patrimonial bureaucracy found in traditional and charismatic
authorities and (2) legal-rational bureaucracy found only in the
legal type of authority.
Weber identified certain features of legal-rational
bureaucracy.
FEATURES OF LEGAL-RATIONAL BUREAUCRACY
The model of legal-rational bureaucracy described by Weber has
the following features:
(1) Official business is conducted on a continuous, regulated
basis,
(2) An administrative agency functions in accordance with
specified rules and is characterised by three interrelated aspects;
(a) the powers and functions of each official is defined in terms
of impersonal criteria, (b) the official is given matching
authority to carry out his responsibility and (c) the means of
compulsion at his disposal are strictly limited and the conditions
under which their employment is legitimate are clearly defined,
(3) Every official and every office is part of the hierarchy of
authority. Higher officials or offices perform supervision and the
lower officers and officials have the right to appeal,
(4) Officials do not own the resources necessary for rendering
the duties, but they are accountable for use of official resources.
Official business and private affairs, official revenue and private
income are strictly separated,
(5) Offices cannot be appropriated by the officers as private
property and
(6) Administration is conducted on the basis of written
documents.
FEATURES OF OFFICIALS
Features of Officials Weber also discussed in detail, as a part
of his model of bureaucracy, the features of officials. They
are:
(1) The staff members are personally free, observing only the
impersonal duties of their offices,
(2) They are appointed to an official position on the basis of
the contract,
(3) An official exercises authority delegated to him in
accordance with impersonal rules, and his loyalty is expressed
through faithful execution of his official duties,
(4) His appointment and job placements depend upon his
professional qualifications,
(5) His administrative work is full time occupation,
(6) His work is rewarded by regular salary and by prospects of
career advancement,
(7) There is a clear cut hierarchy of officials, and
(8) He is subjected to a unified control and disciplinary
system.
MAX WEBER: ELEMENTS OF BUREAUCRACY
When we closely observe the above-mentioned features of
bureaucracy we can identify certain important elements of Weberian
model of bureaucracy. They are:
1. Impersonal Order
2. Rules
3. Sphere of Competence
4. Hierarchy
5. Separation of Personal and Public Ends
6. Written Documents
7. Monocratic Type
1. Impersonal Order
Weber emphasised that the official should perform their duties
in an impersonal manner. The subordinates should follow both in the
issuance of command and their obedience impersonal order.
2. Rules
Rules are the basis for the functioning of the legal-rational
authority. Officials are bound by the rules. The rules regulate the
conduct of an office. Their rational application requires
specialised training. In this regard Merton felt that adherence to
rules originally conceived as a means, becomes an end in itself.
Rules become more important than the goals of the organisation.
3. Sphere of Competence
It involves a sphere of obligation to perform functions, which
have been marked off as a part of a systematic division of
labour.
4. Hierarchy
According to Weber every office and every official is a part of
a hierarchy. Under this system the lower office functions under the
control of higher office. He attaches greater importance to the
principle of hierarchy in the organisation of office.
5. Separation of Personal and Public Ends
Weber pleads for separation of officials from their ownership of
the means of administration. Officials cannot use his office
position for personal ends. The office property is separated from
personal property; at the same time the official is accountable for
the use of office property.
6. Written Documents: Written documents are the heart of
Weberian bureaucracy. All administrative acts, decisions and rules
are recorded in writing. These documents make the administration
accountable to the people and provide a ready reference for future
action.
7. Monocratic Type: It means certain functions performed by
bureaucracy cannot be performed by any other organisation. They
monopolise certain functions and only the authorised official can
perform that function, makes them monocratic in nature. Weber
considered pure or monocratic bureaucracy is the most rational form
of administrative staff.
MAX WEBER: LIMITS ON BUREAUCRACY
Weber while emphasising on the necessity of bureaucracy was
aware of the fact that, the bureaucracy has inherent tendency of
accumulation of power. The sources of this power could be seen in
the special knowledge, which the official poses.
In order to prevent the bureaucracy from acquiring powers Weber
suggested certain mechanism for limiting the scope of systems of
authority in general and bureaucracy in particular. These
mechanisms fall in to five major categories. The categories are:
(1) collegiality, (2) separation of powers, (3) direct democracy,
and (4) representation.
1) Collegiality
In a monocratic bureaucracy, Weber meant that at each stage of
the official hierarchy one person and one person only, had the
responsibility for taking a decision. This makes the bureaucracy
more powerful. To prevent this Weber suggested the principle of
collegiality involving others in the decision making process. Weber
considered that collegiality would always have an important role to
play in limiting bureaucracy. But it has disadvantages in terms of
speed of decision and attribution of responsibility.
2) Separation of powers
Separation of powers meant dividing responsibility and functions
between two or more bodies. For any decision to emerge a compromise
between them had to be reached. This will avoid monopoly of
decision by a single body or person. Weber regarded such a system
as inherently unstable.
3) Direct Democracy
To limit the power of bureaucracy Weber suggested direct
democracy, where the officials were guided by and answerable to an
assembly. Short term of office, permanent possibility of recall was
designed to serve the purpose of direct democracy. But this system
is possible only in small organisations and in local
governments.
4) Representation
Another method of limiting bureaucracy is sharing of authority
of bureaucracy with the elected representatives of the people. With
this method it is possible to control the power of the
bureaucracy.
MAX WEBER’S BUREAUCRACY: CRITICISM
· The Weberian bureaucracy has attracted criticism from several
corners.
· Robert Merton and other sociologist have questioned the
rationality of Weber’s model saying that it results in certain
dysfunctional consequences because of its hierarchy and rules.
Merton emphasises that the bureaucracy means inefficiency.
· Phillip Selznick, pointing to the division of functions in an
organisation shows how sub-units setup goals of their own sometimes
conflicting with the organisation as a whole.
· Talcott Parsons questioned the internal consistency of Weber’s
bureaucracy. Parsons thinks that, this it is not always possible to
ensure that the higher-level authority will be matched by
equivalent professional skills.
· Some scholars like H.C.Creel questioned the very idea that
rational bureaucracy is a modern phenomenon.
· Weber’s model is also not relevant in the context of
development administration. Strict adherence to rules results in
delay and inefficiency in the administration.
MAX WEBER’S BUREAUCRACY: RELEVANCE
In spite of criticism from the several scholars, the ideas of
Weber on bureaucracy continue to be relevant to understand the
present administrative system. So far we have not been able to
evolve an alternative model to Weber’s bureaucracy. Weber is right
in saying that when we are accustomed to the bureaucracy we cannot
think of any other alternative. It is highly useful for managing
large-scale organisations. His ideas on selection of officials
based on qualifications, utility of written documents in
administration, hierarchy etc., can be seen in any administration
of the present day. The bureaucracy proposed by Weber is superior
to all other forms of organisations in achieving the prescribed
objectives. To overcome some of the problems of the bureaucracy, we
can only bring reforms in it, but cannot replace it with any other
organisation. Whether it is capitalist society or a socialist
society, irrespective of the nature of economy, we find the
bureaucracy playing a very important role. The people who talk
about the de-bureaucratisation of the society have not been able to
find a viable alternative to the bureaucracy.
CONCLUSION
Weber can be considered as one of the eminent thinkers of
twentieth century. Though he has written extensively on various
subjects, his contribution to the theory of bureaucracy is highly
valued. Today we can see it in practice in all the societies of the
world. Weber being proved correct when he said that the societies
once governed by the bureaucracy can never get rid of it. His ideas
on authority, rationality of bureaucracy continues to be relevant
for the present day society.
References:
· Albrow, Martin, 1985, Bureaucracy, Macmillan, London,
1985.
· Prasad, D. Ravindra, V.S. Prasad and P. Satyanarayan, 2004,
Administrative Thinkers (Ed), Sterling Publishers, New Delhi. Pugh,
D.S., 1985, Organisation Theory (Ed), Selected Readings, Penguin
Books, Middlesex, England.
· Ritzer, G., & Stepnisky, J. (2017). Modern
sociological theory. Sage publications.
· Mathews, p. (1991). Sociology-themes and perspectives,
-haralambos, m, holborn, m.
KARL MARX THEORY ON BUREAUCRACY
KARL HEINRICH MARX (1818- 1883)
BIOGRAPHY:
Karl Heinrich Marx was
a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political
theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. He
was born in Trier, Germany, Marx
studied law and philosophy at university. Karl
Marx was ethnically but not religiously Jewish. His father Heinrich
Marx was the first in the line to receive a secular education. He
became a lawyer with a comfortably Upper middle
class income. Heinrich was a man of the Enlightenment,
interested in the ideas of the philosophers Immanuel
Kant and Voltaire. His mother Henriette Pressburg, was a
Dutch Jewish woman from a prosperous business family. Little is
known of Marx's childhood, the third of nine children, he became
the eldest son when his brother Moritz died in 1819.
EDUCATION
Marx was privately educated by his father until 1830, when
he entered Trier High School. In October 1835 at the age of 17,
Marx travelled to the University of Bonn wishing to study
philosophy and literature, but his father insisted on law as a more
practical field. Additionally, Marx was involved in certain
disputes, some of which became serious. Although his grades
in the first term were good, they soon deteriorated, leading his
father to force a transfer to the more serious and
academic University of Berlin.
In October 1836, Marx arrived in Berlin, matriculating in the
university's faculty of law and renting a room in the
Mittelstrasse. Although studying law, he was fascinated by
philosophy and looked for a way to combine the two, believing that
"without philosophy nothing could be accomplished". Marx became
interested in the recently deceased German philosopher Georg
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, whose ideas were then widely debated among
European philosophical circles. He involved with a group
of radical thinkers known as the Young
Hegelians in 1837. On 28 August 1844, Marx met the German
socialist Friedrich Engels at the Café de la
Régence, beginning a lifelong friendship
He married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843. Marx and von
Westphalen had seven children together, but partly owing to the
poor conditions in which they lived whilst in London, only three
survived to adulthood.
NOTABLE WORK OF MARX
· “Das kapitol” (1867)
· “The communist manifesto” (1848)
DEATH
Following the death of his wife Jenny in December 1881, Marx
developed a catarrh that kept him in ill health for the
last 15 months of his life. It eventually brought on
the bronchitis and pleurisy that killed him in
London on 14 March 1883, when he died a stateless
person at age 64.
KARL MARX THEORY ON BUREAUCRACY
RISE OF BUREAUCRACY
Marx points out that, bureaucracy, arose with capitalism and the
nation state in western - Europe around the sixteenth century. The
concentration of wealth and power in the hands of merchant
capitalists and absolute monarchs led to the need of an instrument
for the management of wealth and the exercise of power. This
instrument was the bureaucracy. With its help capitalists competed
against other capitalists and monarch curbed feudal lords.
Role of Bureaucracy
In France, the Revolution of 1789 did away with some of the
relics of feudalism; however, it was only the Revolution of 1830
that led to the transfer of power from the landlords to the
capitalists. The era of industrial revolution started in Europe and
it leads to the emergence of new classes considered as capitalist
or bourgeoisie.
According to Marx, all value is produced, by human labour. The
huge profits of capitalists are derived from the exploitation of
large number of workers. A capitalist cannot manage so many workers
all alone. He has to employ managers for this purpose. 'These
managers, and officials associated with them, constitute the
bureaucracy. Hence, according to Marx, bureaucracy consists of
officials who control the workers on behalf of the owners or
rulers. Its function is to get work out of the works' under the
exploitative conditions of capitalism.
The governmental bureaucracy has a, similar function in regard
to workers emphasised by the government. Some of the workers have a
higher status than others; thus .engineers, doctors, architects and
scientists are also involved in productive activity, and 4 % hence
are workers with a high status. All these workers have to be kept
under check. For this Purpose, control is exercised over them by
the bureaucracy. Bureaucracy consists of administrators and
managers who do not perform the productive activity themselves, but
Bureaucracy only control workers.
In recent days in India, doctors, engineers, teachers, nurses
and other workers demonstrated for better working , Conditions and
even went on strikes. Some of them were punished: the punishments
were, administered by administrative officers, such as a Director
or a Secretary to the concerned government. On behalf of the
government, if necessary, negotiations with the workers were also
conducted, by administrative officers. These administrative
officers, then, constitute the bureaucracy: their function is to
control the workers on behalf of the government.
Another function of the governmental bureaucracy is to help in
maintaining capitalist relations of production in the wider
society. Thus, if workers in a private firm go on a strike, the
capitalist can get the help of the police for keeping them under
check. The government provides protection and assistance to private
industry and trade in many ways. The government provides protection
and assistance to private industry and trade in many ways. It
provides means of transport and communication, electric power at
cheap rates, and key goods for industry and agriculture. All these
services to the private sector are channelized through governmental
bureaucracy. Thus government bureaucracy implements labour laws so
as to keep the wheels of industry moving and maintain the profits
of the capitalists. Thus the governmental bureaucracy performs the
important function of maintaining and developing capitalism.
KARL MARX CHARACTERISTICS OF BUREAUCRACY
· Division of Labour: Marx agrees that the division of labour
makes the organisation of capitalist society highly productive.
However, he points out that the basic division of labour, which we
tend to overlook, is between "intellectual and material activity".
While the workers perform the productive activity, the capitalists
and bureaucrats perform only intellectual activity. Hence all the
hard work falls on the workers in the name of the division of
labour. Further, the gains of higher productivity go mostly to the
capitalists.
· Hierarchy: Marx notes that hierarchy is one of the
characteristics of bureaucracy. He says that while Hegel maintains
that hierarchy prevents "subjective domination" by bureaucrats, the
fact is the very opposite. In his view, it leads to "unavoidable"
sins. Thus if an official does some wrong to citizens, the tendency
of his superiors is to protect him. However, if an official stands
up against a wrong being committed by his superiors, he gets
punished. Marx makes another interesting criticism
of-hierarchy.
· Training: Marx notes that it is said, for example by Hegel
that liberal education humanises civil 'servants. He, however,
maintains that the mechanical character of his work and the
compulsions of office lead to the dehumanisation 0f the civil
servant. Marx is also critical of the recruitment of members of the
bureaucracy through competitive, examinations. He says that members
of a bureaucracy need statesmanship which cannot be tested through
an examination: "One does not hear that the Greek or Roman
statesmen passed examinations ". Marx's class analysis would
indicate that the main function of examinations is to ensure that
only persons of the upper class who can afford the costly higher
education are able to enter the bureaucracy. Apart from being
costly, higher education inculcates values and: attitudes which are
supportive of capitalism. Higher education tends to create social
distance between the rich and the poor: highly educated people
generally think that they are a class apart from the uneducated
poor. Hence if a highly educated person is appointed as a manager,
the exploitation of workers does not hurt him.
· Rules: 'Marx points out that bureaucratic minds are so bound
in subordination and passive obedience that they come to think that
obedience to rules is an end in itself, and not merely a means to
an end. They come, to attach more importance to rules than to human
beings.
· Alienation: The concept of alienation is one of Marx's
important contributions to social science, and particularly to
administrative theory. It refers to the consequences of
exploitation for man. Since exploitation is inherent in the
administration of large -scale organisations in capitalist society,
they suffer from alienation in an acute form. Alienation has four
main aspects: loss of freedom, loss of creativity, loss of
humanity, and loss of morality'.
According to Marx the "class struggle" has been going on between
the exploiting and exploited classes throughout human history. In
capitalist society also, the interests of the capitalist class and
the working class conflict with each other, and so their struggle
goes on. Marx maintains that while on the one hand,
bureaucratisation helps the development of capitalism, on the other
hand it also prepares for the latter's overthrow.
BUREAUCRATIC ADMINISTRATION IN MARXS SOCIALIST SOCIETY
Marx did not try to describe in detail the nature of the future
socialist society, since that would be utopian: It will be what we
make it to be. Instead of speculating, Marx examined the nature of
the Paris Commune which had been set up after a revolution. The
administration of the Paris Commune can give US some idea of the
possible nature of the administration in the socialist society of
the future, as follows:
· There would be "self-government of the producers "; in other
words the new society would be wholly democratic.
· The standing army would be disbanded; the people themselves
would take to arms when need arose. There would be communes at
rural, district and national levels.
· The central government would have only a few important
functions: there would be decentralisation.
· The system of election would be indirect and based upon
universal suffrage; all the elected members would be subject to
recall at any time.
· The police would be stripped of its political attributes and
turned into responsible and revocable agents of the commune.
· The public Service would be done at workmen's wages.
· Education would be free and accessible to all.
· Judges would be elected, responsible and revocable, so as to
be free from control by the government.
References:
· Albrow, Martin, 1985, Bureaucracy, Macmillan, London,
1985.
· Prasad, D. Ravindra, V.S. Prasad and P. Satyanarayan, 2004,
Administrative Thinkers (Ed), Sterling Publishers, New Delhi. Pugh,
D.S., 1985, Organisation Theory (Ed), Selected Readings, Penguin
Books, Middlesex, England.
· Ritzer, G., & Stepnisky, J. (2017). Modern
sociological theory. Sage publications.
· Mathews, p. (1991). Sociology-themes and perspectives,
-haralambos, m, holborn, m.
