Question

Comment on the summary below Social scientist, Max Weber, believes modern bureaucracy in a minimum of 150 words with disagreeing or agreeing and why?

Bureaucracy is necessary for maintaining order and structure within a society. Social scientist, Max Weber, believes modern bureaucracy was derived from models of the church. Weber states, “Modern loyalty is devoted to impersonal and functional purposes” (Stillman, 2010, p. 56). He discusses the role of the official is to have hierarchy over its constituents as would the almighty ruler of religious affiliations have seemed to. This expression is a little farfetched as bureaucrats have the ability to be more than just subordinates in modern society. Within a bureaucracy, Weber believes officials rank gives them a certain amount of social esteem. This is certainly true with modern day bureaucracy. The problem with bureaucracy is citizens are ultimately thought to think of public officials as dictators who are always out for self-interest. While often there is much conspiracy within bureaucracy through political games, many bureaucrats work for the best interest of the people. The issue of salary being based on one’s rank is a problem within bureaucratic organizations. Many citizens believe high public officials are receiving too much of tax payers dollars for the job they perform. Weber’s concept of record-keeping is a problem in today’s society, as well. Many political and governmental debates involve outdated laws which must be adapted for modern society. Weber’s belief of strict rule following keeps organizations from creativity and innovation. Bureaucratic rules must be ever-changing in order to best fit with the current society. For example, the civil rights movement allowed for laws and regulations to be changed in order to allow African Americans equal rights. This is same for the recent law to allow same-sex marriage.

Answer 1

I believe that the growth and origin of bureaucracy is somewhat related to church as well and the actions are also governed and maintained by the models that the church followed. With the rise and popularity of hierarchy in an organization it is becoming quite evident that hierarchy in an organization is important for proper maintenance and governing if the roles in an organization and the hierarchy ensure that this is maintained throughout the whole organization as well. I believe that bureaucracy can be a boon to the society as well but the probability of something like that depends on their actions and how they plan to government and enact law that will help the organization. For example bureaucracy should be very much dynamic and flexible and change according to the need and requirement of the organization as well. I believe that bureaucracy is something quite important if it works for the betterment of the society and it may cause issues as well if the role is not positive for the society.