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UPSC SOCIOLOGY Syllabus :
Paper 1 – Chapter 6 – Politics and Society:
(a) Sociological theories of power
(b) Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.
(c) Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
(d) Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
- Bureaucracy is an organisation which, in simplest term is, a rational action in institutionalized form.
- Bureaucratic organisations are dominant form of institutions in industrial society which require high degree of division of labour and high efficiency in rationally organised work environment.
- A bureaucracy is any organization composed of multiple departments, each with policy- and decision-making authority.
- While the hierarchical administrative structure of many governments is perhaps the most common example of a bureaucracy, the term can also describe the administrative structure of private-sector businesses or other non-governmental organizations, such as colleges and hospitals.
- German sociologist Max Weber was the first person to formally study bureaucracy. In his 1921 book “Economy and Society,” Weber argued that a bureaucracy represented the most proficient form of organization, due to its possession of specialized expertise, certainty, continuity, and unity of purpose.
WEBER’S BUREAUCRACY - Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order.
- Weber’s ideal bureaucracy is characterized by the following:
hierarchical organization
delineated lines of authority with fixed areas of activity
action taken on the basis of, and recorded in, written rules
bureaucratic officials with expert training
rules implemented by neutral officials
and career advancement depending on technical qualifications judged by organization, not individuals
INFORMAL BUREAUCRACY - Concept by Peter Blau and Alvin Gouldner.
- According to them, Weberian bureaucracy is a theoretical concept.
- They argue that there is presence of both formal and informal structures in an organisation which might together enhance the performance of the organisation.
PROS OF BUREAUCRACY - Clear hierarchy
- Rules and Regulations
- Rigid division for the labor
- It creates predictability.
- It encourages specialization
- Foundation for scalability.
- Easy to fit into a bureaucracy.
CRITICISM - Inefficiency and red tapism.
- Less prone to change and adapt.
- Fosters a structure that doesn’t create true productivity.
- No emphasis on creating additional competencies.
- Difficult to maintain high morale within a bureaucracy.
- Less freedom to act within a bureaucracy.