CHAPTER 4
BUREAUCRACY
1. The Meanings of Bureaucracy and Characteristics of
Bureaucracy
2. Dysfunction of Bureaucracy
3. Bureaucracy and Public policy
4. Bureaucratic Accountability
5. Bureaucratic Reform
Required Reading
PA. TEXTBOOK 4/ CHAPTER 1 (pp 23-
25)
PA TEXTBOOK 7/ CHAPTER 5 ( pp 235-
255)
PA TEXTBOOK 6/ CHAPTER 12 (pp 530)
PA TEXTBOOK 3/ CHAPTER 2 (pp40-58)
1. The Meanings of Bureaucracy
There are many meanings of bureaucracy.
Generally, it refers to organizing principles that are
intended to achieve coordination of work in large
organization
1. All Government Offices
It refer to totality of government office or bureau that
constitutes the permanent government of the state. It is
those public functions that continue irrespective of changes
of political leaders
2. All Public Officials
The bureaucracy refers to the entire public officials of a
government. They may constitute both high, low, elected
and appointed bureaucrats.
3. General Invective
It refers to inefficient organization full by red tape and
cumbersome procedures in government operation.
However, this does not mean that government operations is
always inefficient. Many government agencies have long
long-standing reputation of being efficient.
2. Structural Features of Bureaucracy
1. Specialized jurisdiction, office, task and division of labor and authority
regarding the achievement of organization goal
2. Hierarchy of authority to coordinate the activities of the specialized office
and to integrate their jurisdictional authority. In the most rational bureaucratic
design, the organization is handled by single individual
3. A career structure
4. A bureaucratic structure tend to be permanent and remain intact regardless
flow of the member in and out of it. Society become dependent on
bureaucracy's functioning to the extend that chaos result if it is destroyed
3. Procedural Features of Bureaucracy
1. Impersonal and dehumanizing. It is important to eliminate emotional element
from the performance of the individual bureaucrats and the organization as a
whole
2. Formalistic. It is because it does not operate on person but office. Everything
about its structure and operation is written down in a formal procedure. The
written document are stored in files, access to which is limited.
3. Rule-bound. Bureaucracy operates according to formal rules and regulation that
are in written forms and can be learned. The objective of rules is to specify proper
office procedures and to assure regularities in dealing with the outsider. The rules
also seek to ensure impersonality and enhance hierarchical authority.
4. Highly discipline. ndividual bureaucrats are bound by the bureaucratic rules and
authority structures. They may be discipline for rules infraction or insubordination
Because of these structure and procedural characteristic
Highly efficient. Weber regarded bureaucracy as the most
efficient form of organization. It acts with continuity,
precision, rationality, expertise and discipline. It uses of
discretion are predictable. Bureaucracy is reliable
1. Powerful. Its power derives from rationality, expertise
and continuity. Weber claimed that well developed
bureaucracy is uncontrollable by outsider and that
society becomes dependent for its provision of goods
and services
2. Ever-expending. Bureaucratic expansion is unavoidable
because it is efficient, powerful that could serve the need
of the complex society
3. Dysfunction of Bureaucracy
Weber’s contribution is central to our understanding of formal
organization structures. However, It is undeniable that some
of the principle of bureaucracy is the most efficient means of
organizing. On the contrary, the recent scholars have
identified a number of weaknesses (dysfunction) of
bureaucracy.
Dysfunction may refer to social system which is detracting
from adaptation and adjustment. (cannot play function it
intended to perform.
Actual behavior in organizational setting fall short.
1. Rules originally designed to serve organizational efficiency
have a tendency to become all-important in their own right
2. Relationships between office holder or roles are based on
the rights and duties of each roles, so they are
depersonalized and this lead to rigid behavior
3. Decision–making tend to be programmed and this
discourage the search for further alternatives.
4. The effect of rigid behavior often is very damaging for
client and customer and also for management workers.
Clients have to accept standardization . Difficult to adapt
4. Bureaucracy and Public Policy
• Focus on the important role of public bureaucracy in policy
formulation and implementation.
• The effectiveness of public programs depends on how
wisely formulation function is carried out, implemented and
evaluated.
• General publics are much concerned with government
policy because there is much disillusionment about
government policies: (public become better educated and
better inform)
• Government become more and more efficient at carrying
out the wrong policies.
5. Bureaucratic accountability
One of the defining features of democracies is the
institutionalization of bureaucratic accountability and
transparency The concept of such a system is the ability of
ordinary citizens to hold government officials accountable for
their actions.
Accountability also refers to the answerability. It means
organization must be answerable to someone or something
outside itself. When a thing goes wrong, some one must be
held responsible.
Reasons why it is difficult to check the accountability of
bureaucrats
To find the means of establishing accountability is often difficult even
in the most developed countries like in United States because of
several reasons.
1. The accumulation of special expertise and information
2. The advantage of full-time status.
3. The protective nature of the personnel system
4. The fragmentation of agency structures and functions
5. The larger size and scope of public bureaucracy.
There are lots of challenges to have so called
bureaucratic accountability. It seems that the formal
theory of accountability in public administration is not
working in reality
BUREAUCRATIC REFORM
It involves efforts and manifestation to improve
government. It may in include redesigning the
organizational process to achieve significant improvement in
critical measures of government performance cost, quality
and efficiency of service delivery.
In the case of Malaysia, many reforms to public bureaucracy
had been made. The critical major reform was conducted in
1990s with the aim to improve internal system and process
in bureaucracy. It focuses on three broad areas, financial
administration (out put based-computerized accounting),
service delivery system and personnel management (new
remuneration system)
PUBLIC ADMINISTRAION REFORM
PARADIGMS
Major areas of bureaucratic reform
1. The size of the public sector
2. Decentralization
3. Corruption
4. Accountability
5. Provision of Goods and Services
6. Public participation
7. Globalization
THANK YOU!
Discuss the most effective way
to ensure bureaucratic
accountability