Read complete books and articles on: Bureaucracies in History

Bureaucracy - byoorŏkˈrəsē, the administrative structure of any large organization, public or private. Ideally bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical authority relations, defined spheres of competence subject to impersonal rules, recruitment by competence, and fixed salaries. Its goal is to be rational, efficient, and professional. Max Weber, the most important student of bureaucracy, described it as technically superior to all other forms of organization and hence indispensable to large, complex enterprises. However, because of the shortcomings that have in practice afflicted large administrative structures, the terms bureaucracy and bureaucrat in popular usage usually carry a suggestion of disapproval and imply incompetence, a narrow outlook, duplication of effort, and application of a rigid rule without due consideration of specific cases. Bureaucracy existed in imperial Rome and China and in the national monarchies, but in modern states complex industrial and social legislation has called forth a vast growth of administrative functions of government. The power of permanent and nonelective officials to apply and even initiate measures of control over national administration and economy has made the bureaucracy central to the life of the state; critics object that it is largely impervious to control by the people or their elected representatives. The institution of the ombudsman has been one means adopted in an attempt to remedy this situation. Another has been collective decision making. Administrative bureaucracies in private organizations and corporations have also grown rapidly, as has criticism of unresponsive bureaucracies in education, health care, insurance, and labor unions. See civil service.

See M. Dimock, Administrative Vitality: The Conflict with Bureaucracy (1959); R. Bendix, M. Weber (1960); C. Barnard, Functions of the Executive (1980); M. Albrow, Bureaucracy (1970); P. M. Blau, Bureaucracy in Modern Society (2d ed. 1971); J. Hage, Theories of Organization (1980); K. Ferguson, The Feminist Case Against Bureaucracy (1984); C. Perrow, Complex Organizations (3d ed. 1986).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Bureaucracies in History

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

From Ad Hoc to Routine: A Case Study in Medieval Bureaucracy » Read Now
by Ellen E. Kittell. 278 pgs.

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...see F. Pollack and F. Maitland, History of English Law , 2 vols. Cambridge...due to the efforts of these women. Thus in order to avoid complete confusion, the...dynamic in...
2.

Industrial Culture and Bourgeois Society: Business, Labor, and Bureaucracy in Modern Germany, 1800-1918 (Chap. 2 "Family and Bureaucracy in German Industrial Management, 1850-1914 Siemens in Comparative Perspective") » Read Now
by Jurgen Kocka. 326 pgs.

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Written by a German historian devoted to the integration of the social and economic history of Europe during industrialisation, this collection of essays shows his effort to develop new analytical tools for understanding modern industrial societies.
3.

The Bureaucrats of Buenos Aires, 1769-1810: Amor al Real Servicio » Read Now
by Susan Migden Socolow. 362 pgs.

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...time made the subsequent institutional history of Buenos Aires somewhat unusual. Within...feature of the Bourbon bureaucracy, not only in Buenos Aires but throughout...
4.

The Canadian Bureaucracy: A Study of Canadian Civil Servants and Other Public Employees, 1939-1947 (1949) » Read Now
by Taylor Cole. 294 pgs.

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5.

The French Civil Service: Bureaucracy in Transition (1931) » Read Now
by Walter Rice Sharp. 594 pgs.

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...1791. 19 In this respect, the history of the French Ministry...Throughout the history of the French civil...has ended either in partial or in complete...Let us review the...
6.

War, Revolution, and the Bureaucratic State: Politics and Army Administration in France, 1791-1799 » Read Now
by Howard G. Brown. 361 pgs.

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This book examines a period of particular importance in the formation of the modern French state. The revolutionary strife and international war of the 1790s had important and far-reaching consequences for the development of democracy and bureaucracy in France. Howard G Brown's study of changes in...
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This book examines a period of particular importance in the formation of the modern French state. The revolutionary strife and international war of the 1790s had important and far-reaching consequences for the development of democracy and bureaucracy in France. Howard G Brown's study of changes in army administration in this period sheds light on the dynamic relationship between the spread of political participation, the rationalization of public power, and the build-up of military might. Dr. Brown shows how the exigencies of war and the vagaries of revolutionary politics wrought rapid and profound changes in the structures and personnel of army administration. Although loath to see a massive military bureaucracy take root, legislators found that their desire to combine civilian control with military effectiveness made a large central administration unavoidable.
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7.

Organizing China: The Problem of Bureaucracy, 1949-1976 » Read Now
by Harry Harding. 420 pgs.

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8.

The Internal Organization of Ch'ing Bureaucracy: Legal, Normative, and Communication Aspects » Read Now
by Thomas A. Metzger. 469 pgs.

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9.

Strong Institutions in Weak Polities: State Building in Republican China, 1927-1940 » Read Now
by Julia C. Strauss. 272 pgs.

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Strong Institutions in Weak Polities explores state building and its supporting processes of institution-building in Republican China, focusing particularly on efforts to create strong, proactive central administrative organizations under exceptionally difficult circumstances between 1927 and 1940...
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Strong Institutions in Weak Polities explores state building and its supporting processes of institution-building in Republican China, focusing particularly on efforts to create strong, proactive central administrative organizations under exceptionally difficult circumstances between 1927 and 1940. After considering Nationalist efforts to establish a national civil service and examination system, it details the institution-building strategies pursued by three different central state organizations: the Sino-Foreign Salt Inspectorate, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr Strauss suggests that, far from being the morass of corruption and useless activity sometimes portrayed, all three of these organizations provided core services to the wider state building project, all were surprisingly successful and perceived to be of high status during their own time, and all pursued largely similar strategies of institution-building involving some combination of organizational insulation, bureaucratization around impersonal norms, and outwardly oriented goal achievement. This book will be of interest to all those involved in modern Chinese studies, comparative history, and politics, as well as to anyone interested in the nexus between state building and organization theory.
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10.

Cultures in Conflict: The Four Faces of Indian Bureaucracy » Read Now
by Stanley J. Heginbotham. 242 pgs.

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11.

Bureaucracy at War: U.S. Performance in the Vietnam Conflict (Chap. 4 "Institutional Constraints on U.S. Performance" and Chap. 6 "Lack of Unified Management") » Read Now
by Robert W. Komer. 192 pgs.

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12.

The Problem of Bureaucratic Rationality: Tax Politics in Japan » Read Now
by Junko Kato. 327 pgs.

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Through a detailed account of the political battles over Japanese tax reform during the last two decades, Junko Kato draws an unconventional portrait of bureaucratic motivation, showing how fiscal bureaucrats exploit their unique technical knowledge to influence policymaking. Rejecting the notion...
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Through a detailed account of the political battles over Japanese tax reform during the last two decades, Junko Kato draws an unconventional portrait of bureaucratic motivation, showing how fiscal bureaucrats exploit their unique technical knowledge to influence policymaking. Rejecting the notion that the monopolization of policy expertise leads to bureaucratic domination, Kato contends that bureaucrats seek to increase their influence upon politicians by strategically sharing information. She also explores the reason for the relative strength of the bureaucratic organization in comparison to the governing party, whose interest in reelections and intra-party politics may pose dilemmas for individual politicians.
In 1989, the Japanese Diet enacted a broad-based consumption tax after two failed attempts and in the face of widespread public disapproval. Its passage was all the more remarkable for coming just as a series of dramatic financial scandals had begun to undermine popular support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, fore-shadowing its fall from power four years later. Kato argues that skillful maneuvering by the Ministry o
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13.

The Emancipation of Writing: German Civil Society in the Making, 1790s-1820s » Read Now
by Ian F. McNeely. 333 pgs.

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"A superbly crafted major intervention into the hotly contested issue of German civil society - its origins, formation, and fate. McNeely turns the tables on deconstructive approaches to formalism in writing and shows how writing was thoroughly implicated in state power and corporate...
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"A superbly crafted major intervention into the hotly contested issue of German civil society - its origins, formation, and fate. McNeely turns the tables on deconstructive approaches to formalism in writing and shows how writing was thoroughly implicated in state power and corporate culture."--David Sabean, author of "Kinship in Neckarhausen, 1700-1870
"This work's use of archival evidence to overhaul grand theory puts it in a league of its own. McNeely crafts a startlingly original argument about the inventions of citizenship and of modern political culture. It will be required if unsettling reading for anyone pondering the legacies of Tocqueville, Habermas, or Foucault."--Richard Biernacki, author of "The Fabrication of Labor: Germany and Britain, 1640-1914
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14.

Corporate Society: Class, Property, and Contemporary Capitalism » Read Now
by John McDermott. 208 pgs.

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15.

The State and Policy Outcomes in Latin America » Read Now
by Lawrence S. Graham. 212 pgs.

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16.

The Genesis of the Stalinist Social Order » Read Now
by Michel Vale, Pavel Campeanu. 168 pgs.

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