When German industrialization began in the 1830s, powerful pub-
lic bureaucracies had already developed. ¹ They increasingly dis-
played certain characteristics that, in varying degrees and with many
modifications, were shared by other large-scale organizations, especially
those developed since the end of the nineteenth century. They served as
the empirical basis for Max Weber's definition of bureaucracy. According
to that definition, used in this essay as a model, "bureaucracy" refers to
organizations with highly formalized internal relations, mostly in the
form of impersonal, general, written rules; with a practice of handling
affairs as cases according to general rules; with a fixed, institutionalized
distribution of functions and responsibilities; with a hierarchical, institu-
tionalized pattern of authority corresponding to the distribution of
responsibilities; and with an intensive, continuous system of records and
files. Persons employed in such organizations hold a specific status; they
are appointed on the basis of contractual agreement according to general
rules, qualifications, and examinations; they hold tenure and enjoy
seniority rights (such as in matters of promotion and salaries) as well as
old-age security (pensions). Further, they are expected to display a specific

Notes for this section begin on page 43.

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