Public administration and

bureaucracy
Revision
What is Max Weber's definition of the state?
What is the other commonly accepted definition of
the state?
What are the three main functions of the state
(corresponding to the three branches of government)?
What is the highest legislative institution?
What are the main executive functions of the state?
What are the main types of state organization?
Modes of Functioning of the State
Bureaucratic
Hierarchical
Bureaucratic mode
According to Max Weber, the administrative
arrangements typical of the state are bureaucratic.
This means that administration is carried out on the
basis of various forms of knowledge – juridical,
military, fiscal, managerial, statistical, geographical,
etc. The state's capacity to apply such knowledge via its
bureaucratic apparatus qualifies it as a rational
political enterprise, seeking both effectiveness (the
maximal achievement of its own goals) and efficiency
(the optimal relation between means and ends).
Hierarchical mode
The performance of the various state activities by diverse
personnel is controlled by personnel higher up who
instruct their inferiors on how to operate, who can monitor
their performance and, if necessary, sanction them if their
performance does not meet the required standards.
 The pyramid, where the base is provided by the personnel
on the ground and the apex by the controlling
bureaucratic elite.
In this way, the state secures its unity, uniformity and
consistency in the way its activities are carried out over
time and in various places.
Discuss the following:
Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination
through knowledge.
–Max Weber

1. What do you think about Max Weber’s view of bureaucracy

stated above?
2. Is there any difference between the terms “bureaucracy” and
“public administration”?
3. How would you define public administration and bureaucracy?
4. According to you, does the term “bureaucracy” have positive or
negative connotations?
Public administration - definitions
a branch of political science dealing primarily with the
structure and workings of agencies charged with the
administration of governmental functions
the implementation of government policies
the field of service that maintains a civil society and
provides for the needs of the public.

Discuss the aforementioned definitions!

A definition of bureaucracy
bureaucracy n.
plural bureaucracies
1 a a body of non-elective government officials
 b:an administrative policy-making group
2 government characterized by specialization of
functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of
authority
3 a system of administration marked by officialism,
red tape, and proliferation
 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucracy
Answer the following questions:

1. Who are members of bureaucracy?

2. What is their main role?
3. What are the characteristics of bureaucracy?
4. Which negative aspects are included in the
definition?
Public administration and bureaucracy
Public administration is the more general term, while
bureaucracy refers to a particular organizational form,
and especially to the ideal-type model developed by
Max Weber. As the concept was developed by Weber,
bureaucracy was meant to be the highest level of
development of rational-legal governance.
Public perception of bureucracy
What are the negative connotations associated with
bureaucracy?
What is the meaning of this statement:

“Rather than oppressing the public, as is now often

argued, bureaucracy should provide both greater
equality and greater transparency than the traditional
forms of governance that it should replace.”
Characteristics of bureaucracy (Weber):

Bureaucracy derives its authority from law. It depends neither on traditional nor on personal modes of authority. It
is instead based on a form of legal rational authority that defines the foundations of the organization's
jurisdiction and its procedures of operation.

Buraucracy has differentiated offices or units that have specialized competencies and jurisdictions. This aspect of
bureaucracy provides it with some obvious advantages, including the ability to bring technical expertise and
experience to bear on particular aspects of problems.

Bureaucracy is characterized by an internally hierarchical system of authority required to bring its distinctive
parts together as part of a unified system of coordination.

Bureaucracy is also characterized by rules and procedures that govern its internal functions. It has a 'memory'
and a set of procedures for dealing with recurring matters. Weber referred to this as the organization's “files”,
and this storage of experience and written rules anchors bureaucracy in the legal-rational system of authority.

Bureaucracy is characterized by a full-time staff of officials. In governments, these officials are known as civil
servants; they represent the continuity of the organization of government.

Translate the above text!

Read the text carefully and list positive and negative
aspects of modern bureaucracy:
Positive aspects Negative aspects
Public administration employees
crucially important for the success or failure of
administration.
Public administration bodies should, to the extent
possible, employ the “best and brightest”.
Merit and seniority principles
Management in the public sector
More difficult than in the private sector, due to:
1. the absence of clear criteria for success and failure
2. the transparency of most of the operations,
3. the absence of control over many aspects of the
personnel and budget systems.
Representative bureaucracy

Questions:
to which extent are the members of the civil service
representative of the population, and especially to
which extent are women and members of minority
groups included in government?
to which extent political criteria are, and should be,
involved in the selection of public officials?
Recent developments
Bureucracy as a link between the public sector and the
public
It is crucial for managing instruments such as
contracts and partnerships and in providing the
linkage between networks of social actors and the
public sector.
Translate and discuss the following paragraph:
Finally, to appreciate the advantages of bureaucracy, it
is useful to imagine life without it. It would be a world
without continuity, without consistency, and with a
shortage of competence. We may not like bureaucracy,
but we would certainly dislike a world without it even
more.
Fill in the missing words:
bureaucracy, contradictory, government, organization,
political

The limits and critiques of ______________are notable.

Its virtues are also often its vices. Balancing the
______________tensions of the bureaucratic form of
______________presents a continuing challenge. There is
also no doubt that much of the criticism of bureaucracy is
distinctly _______________and has little to do with
bureaucracy itself and more to do with views about the
appropriate scope of _____________.
Translate the following passage:
Continuity, predictability, legality and specialized
expertise may lead to difficulties in adapting to change
or recognizing novelty, as well as problems of
coordination. Hierarchical authority also can lead to a
lack of sensitivity to problems on the ground. Yet a
lack of hierarchical control may lead to a lack of
accountability. Because these problems are built into a
system of law and impersonal authority, there are no
set formulas for resolving them. But they remain
problems inherent in bureaucracy.
Jokes for the end...
Bureaucracy: A system that enables ten men to do the
work of one.
If the first person who answers the phone cannot
answer your question, it's a bureaucracy.
Thank you for your
attention!