From Bureaucracy to Debureaucratization?

Abstract

Administration, Administrative evil, Bureaucracy, Corruption, Debureaucratization, Democracy, Deregulation, Enlightenment, Etatisme , New public management, Professionalism, Public service ethics, Technology, Weber, Max,

Decentralization and Citizen Participation in Mexico

“…The convergence of the ideologies and reforms of that time culminated in the emergence of bureaucratic model as we know it today (Argyriades 2010). "The bureaucratic model was manifestly a composite of many diverse elements.…”

“…(ibid. : 277) As noted by Argyriades (2010), the process of "bureaucratization" can be linked to the decline of patrimonial states secured on prescriptive rights, the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society and the conversion from a feudal aristocracy to capitalist democracy. A product of its time, the bureaucratic model pushed for reason in the structuring of organizations and their scientific management thereafter.…”

“…A product of its time, the bureaucratic model pushed for reason in the structuring of organizations and their scientific management thereafter. In such a manner, bureaucracies, like machines, could secure speed, predictability, accuracy, and efficiency (Argyriades 2010). Bureaucracy, the ideal-type configuration of an organization proposed by Weber, was characterized by a hierarchical structure with unity of command at the apex, a division of labor based on task specialization, the merit-based appointment and promotion of employees, formal rules and regulations, formal communication systems, and proper access to records for informed administrative decision-making (Farazmand 2010).…”

“…Bureaucracy, the ideal-type configuration of an organization proposed by Weber, was characterized by a hierarchical structure with unity of command at the apex, a division of labor based on task specialization, the merit-based appointment and promotion of employees, formal rules and regulations, formal communication systems, and proper access to records for informed administrative decision-making (Farazmand 2010). Bureaucratic centralism was an unmistakable part of the scientific claims of the classical management doctrines (Argyriades 2010). For example, the twentieth century 'classical' management literature such as; C. I. Barnard, The Functions of the Executive (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1938, repr.…”

“…According to North (1990), centralization undermined a country's ability to escape path dependency. As the feeling that "adaptation to new social conditions [… became] the sine qua non of survival" (Argyriades 2010: 292) centralized governments began experimenting with decentralization. For many governments, decentralization policies were adopted as a way of establishing service delivery on a "demand led" basis versus following a national established provision of entitlements with secured expenditures from the center (Levaggi and Smith 2003).…”