Sociology

Bureaucracy is one of the main concepts in the study of sociology and political science. This concept refers to the manner in which legal rules in an organization are to be enforced by the administration. The term refers to the combination of various elements such as the structure of an organization, the rules and regulations that an organization sets in place in order to manage the day to day activities of an organization. Its antonym which is referred to as adhocracy refers to the form of organization where the bureaucratic rules and protocols are broken in order to achieve a set target which bureaucracy may fail to capture. It has often been suggested that bureaucracy is a thing of the past that has many limitations and so adhocracy is generally preferred to in many forms of organizations.

One of the main unique characteristics of bureaucracy is that it does not create policies but acts as a method of enacting them. The leadership in the organization is usually tasked with creating the necessary bureaucratic measures which are aimed at implementing the various rules, regulations and policies that they create. The term bureaucracy is believed to have originated from the concept of a bureau which was coined up in the 18th century to mean an office. It has often been described as a system which is characterized by a high degree of official-ism, proliferation and red tape. One of the most influential personalities in the use of this word Max Weber has been very instrumental in the study of this concept and is highly regarded as one of pioneers in using the word in the world of social sciences.

Its has been through the work of Max Weber that the concept has gained a significance and the fact that he portrayed it in much more positive terms makes his work a perfect exemplar to those who want to devise the concept in their organizations. Weber argued that bureaucracy can be a very efficient system with and he thus came to the conclusion that it is the most rational known means of carrying out imperative control over human beings (Garston, 1993). Weber provided a remarkable analysis of bureaucracy and some of the most significant analysis of the system included the historical as well as administrative issues that prompted its use and the role it played in the western civilization. Weber also went further to provide the most significant advantages as well as disadvantages that the system would have in the future world. He also went further to describe some of the principles that govern bureaucracy. With his principles, a bureaucratic official will generally be free and his appointment is entirely based on conduct. The officer is rewarded regularly and given a chance to advance in this fulltime post.  Although the officer is entitled to exercise their own sense of judgment, the decision will mainly lie with higher authorities. This ultimately has the effect of choking their abilities to do what they perceive as right.

Max Weber admitted that bureaucracy in practice would be less more productive and effective than his perceived type of ideal model. The reason why he thinks this can be so is the notion that almost all of his principles can be ineffective and the objectives that they are supposed to achieve be thus blurred. Overspecialization which at sometimes tends to cause rigidity, is a major downturn of bureaucracy. The slowness of carrying out procedures has also been a major downfall of bureaucracy. One of the major disadvantages of bureaucracy is that most of the rules are usually laid down and this fact alone makes it impossible to use common sense. Bureaucracy also leaves room for the formation of many rules which will mostly end up contradicting each other which makes decision making in the organization harder (Garston, 1993).