Weber's bureaucracy theory

Max Weber (1864-1920) was the initiator of the systematic study on bureaucracy. Its observations of the development of bureaucracy and the formation of the conditions that contributed to it, such as the monetary economy, the appearance of the capitalist system, the industrial revolution, and the Protestant ethics, are references of the subject. With his Theory of bureaucratic domination, Try to establish the conditions in which the person who holds power justifies their legitimacy and the ways in which the subjects on which the power is exercised are submitted to it. It is not enough with the legitimation of power, a certain degree of administrative organization that allows the exercise of power is necessary.

In this psychology-online article, we will explain What is and what are the characteristics of Weber's theory of the bureaucracy.

1. Principles of Bureaucracy According to Weber
2. Theory of bureaucracy: characteristics
3. Weber ideal bureaucracy

Principles of Bureaucracy According to Weber

Weber's bureaucracy theory distinguishes 3 Principles of legitimation that allow distinguishing the types of domination:

1. Charismatic domination: justified by the characteristics of the leader and accepted by the subjects based on their faith and in which, in case of an administrative organization, which is unstable and indeterminate.
2. Traditional domination: legitimizes the power of the boss in the past and the status inherited and raises.
3. Legal domination: It is based on the law as a legitimizing principle based on their rationality and is independent of the leader or boss to enforce them.

Bureaucratization means increasing prevalence of a rational and formal organization type. "Bureaucratic administration" means exercise of knowledge based on knowledge (technical competence), a feature that is what makes it specifically rational.

Theory of bureaucracy: characteristics

According to Weber, the bureaucracy must present the following main characteristics or features:

Legal nature of norms and regulations

Bureaucracy is an organization composed of a series of norms and regulations, which are established in writing. It is based on its own legislation in which the operation will be defined and guidelled and how the bureaucratic administration and organization will be carried out. These norms and regulations are very detailed, precise and rational, as they must be consistent with the initial objectives.

Hierarchy of authority

The legal norms are established by their rationality and the legal body is composed of a system consistent of intentionally established abstract rules; the person who performs authority occupies a position whose functions, prerogatives, rights and obligations are delimited and for the reason for his position, he holds power; The person who obeys the authority does so only as a member of that group only obeys "the law" to the legal precepts, not to the individual wills of the bosses.

Maximum labor division

The bureaucratic organization is characterized by being composed of official positions delimited by rules that determine the sphere of competence of each of them in accordance with the following principles: delimitation of the obligations to be fulfilled for each position based on the division of labor; provision of the necessary authority for the performance and fulfillment of these obligations; delimitation of conditions and coercive means for the exercise of that authority. The organization of the positions follows the hierarchical principle so that each position is under the control and supervision of a superior, and each official is responsible for their superior of their decisions and actions and those of their subordinates.

DETERMINATION OF RULES

The conduct of the officials is governed by a coherent system of technical rules and norms of a general type and consists in the application of these rules to each case and specific situation.

Professionalization and rationality

A specialization and qualified preparation is required and its selection will be carried out in accordance with this type of criteria. Employment is considered as a career that develops in accordance with a promotions system established based on antiquity or technical capacity and knowledge. It is an award of positions and positions for reasons of competition and not for personal preferences or nepotisms.

Impersonality

Administrative acts, decisions and rules will be formulated and recorded in writing and the ideal official meets a spirit of impersonal formality.

According to Weber, from a technical point of view, experience would demonstrate in universally. The bureaucratic apparatus developed is exactly the same as the machine with respect to non -mechanical production forms. The precision, speed, univocity, the officiality, continuity, discretion, uniformity, rigorous subordination, friction savings and objective and personal costs are greater in a severely bureaucratic and especially monocratic administration, served by specialized officials.

Weber ideal bureaucracy

Weber tried to formulate a Ideal type of bureaucratic administration. It is not an empirical model of bureaucratic functioning, nor is it the result of an average of the characteristics of all existing bureaucracies. It is a pure type obtained by abstraction of the most characteristic bureaucratic aspects of all known organizations and whose essential note is Rationality and efficiency.

Criticism of Weber's ideal bureaucracy

Criticisms of the concept of Weberian bureaucracy and the usefulness of the ideal type have emerged. Some aimed at pointing out the insufficiencies of a concept that did not take into account the empirical aspects of concrete organizations and forgot the non -rational dimensions of it; Others show their own contradictions of the ideal type established by Weber pointing out that a specific organization that gathered all the characteristics established in it would not necessarily have to be located at the maximum efficiency, because the factors that determine this cannot be established in the abstract.

Criticisms that have revealed the dysfunctional differences that arise from the Bureaucratic Organization Model established by Weber.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Weber's bureaucracy theory, We recommend that you enter our category of social psychology and organizations.