soci assignment 3

Account for the growth of bureaucracy in modern society.
(1996 Prelims)

In recent times, the term ‘bureaucracy’ has been seen with a negative connotation of being associated with red-tape, inefficiency and wastefulness. However, when the first notion of bureaucracy was conceived by Max Weber, it was seen as a form of organizational structure characterized by regularized procedure, division of responsibility, hierarchy and impersonal relationships, in order to be rational and efficient, whether or not it was a governmental or non-governmental agency.

The need for organisation traced back to ancient times; as society progress with increasing times, the spread of organisation has resulted in an increasingly specialized division of labour in society, away from the past needs of subsistence living in the earlier forms of society. The need to organize, direct and coordinate the myriad of activities of society has lead Weber to state his point that in any large-scale operation, some people must coordinate and control the activities of others. As such, an organisation with a hierarchy of authority and a system of rules is formed in the pursuit of a goal; bureaucracy is then known as the rule of officials.

Weber believed that this particular form of organisation, bureaucracy, was then becoming the defining characteristic of modern industrial society; his rational, ideal of type of bureaucracy was seen as an organisation with a hierarchy of paid, full-time officials who formed a chain of command amongst a division of labour, with power vested at the top management, concerned with the business of administration, controlling, managing and coordinating a complex series of tasks, through impersonality, expertise with a code of rules and regulations. By doing the above, it would contribute to an increase in efficiency.

One thing Weber was mindful of was that all these exists in an ideal form, and all organizations may not be equipped with the above features as people tend to act away from rational motives.

Other schools of thoughts also came up with different models of bureaucracy. Frederick Taylor, a Scientific Management theorist, pioneered a scientific study or organization to maximize efficiency. His assumptions about workers where that they were rational economic man, primarily motivated by money. The goal of the organisation is to be efficient and effective, and so, management at the top takes all responsibility in making decision and planning, while workers’ maximum potential were to be achieved through specialization, technical division of labour, good time planning and close supervision, and incentives being rewards for compliance and work satisfaction. As such, efficiency was to be enhanced.

The growth of bureaucracy and the universal trend of bureaucratization in modern society stemmed from the belief that its adoption could help enhance the efficiency and efficacy in all organisations. Bureaucratization of the two institutions crucial for modern society, politics and economy, were the main concerns of Weber.

In politics, as people’s motives shift from traditional to rationality and became governed by the mind, authority too shifted from traditional to rational-legal authority, and is left to a few to govern the state. The state (“an organisation which has the monopoly of violence over a given territory” -Weber) then is given the bureaucratic power to administer the day-to-day affairs of the society.

However, with increasing enlightenment and education the people receive, democratization is also increased. With the people being empowered with a louder presence, demanding new services for the welfare of the society, it raises the needs for greater central planning of the economy, regulation and taxation, and promotes the expansion of bureaucracy.

In the economy, rapid and constant changes has been made in the technology of production. After the Second World War, a huge boom in industrialization has resulted in mass production of goods and services, as well as the opening up the free market economy through the use of the price mechanism. The enlarged pie in the market, as well as the possibility to maximize their outputs by minimizing inputs has encouraged firms to increase in size and complexity of their operations in the organisation in modern society, and brings about uncertainty and confusion.

In order to manage the uncertainty and confusion, rational calculation dictates that a bureaucratic organisation can serve the purpose, as well as increasing efficiency to bring about the maximum returns to scale. By having a clear division of labour and transforming individuals into role-oriented, governed by rules, predictability is enhanced.

In essence, the growth of bureaucracy in modern society is spurred out of the technical necessity of administrative requirement of the large-scale operations of the state governments and the blooming industrial needs.