Why was Weber so concerned about the relationship between democracy and

bureaucracy?

What is ‘bureaucracy’?

 Linked to doctrine of European rationalisation.

 A nuanced concept – the terms ‘bureaucratisation’ and ‘rationalisation’ are used
interchangeably, but it can refer to several specific things.
o It is ‘technically superior’ to all other forms of administration. Hence the synergy
with rationalisation: this is presented as an axiomatic proof.
o Either general societal, or political.
o The political can refer either to the administration of government through a
rational structure (the bureaucracy), or the effective governance of that rational
structure, or a more nebulous ‘spirit of bureaucracy’.
 A bureaucratic structure has:
o A formal hierarchy of rank.
o The application of rules according to set doctrine.
o Promotion by merit.

What are the political reasons for bureaucracy?

 The state is the monopoliser of legitimate force. ‘Without exception every sphere of social
action is profoundly influenced by structures of dominancy’
o Weber separated the state and the nation; he thought of the ‘nation’ as a cultural
community, not too dissimilar to the Durkheimian concept of ‘society’. It gives
internal unity, but needs the protection of the state. Compare with Marx, re the
social forces of their times.
o N.B. an unusual view for the time. Most saw the state as an object of reverence.
 Weber classified three types of legitimate domination. Willingly received and from below.
o Traditional. Obey me because you’ve always done so.
o Charismatic. Obey me because I can change your life.
o Legal-rational. Obey me because I am your lawfully appointed superior.
 Any system combines these three, but increasingly, the third one is that which carries
weight.
 This increases the demand for bureaucracy.
o The concentration of the technical means of administration and welfare in the
hands of the state requires it too.

What’s the problem?

 Society is bureaucratising. Talcott Parsons – bureaucratisation for Weber is the same as

class struggle for Marx.
 Two-fold. One is political and one is general and societal.
 The political is simpler: the intrusion of the bureaucrat into government is unwelcome.
o There is an incompatibility between the roles of the politician and those of the
bureaucrat. One owes loyalty to a cause, the other only to his office.
o He made a specific criticism of the German civil service, and he called his Prussia a
‘pseudo-democracy’. Will return to what can be done.

 In societal terms, believed that bureaucratisation was responsible for man’s growing
expropriation from the conditions needed to master his own life.
o In summary, a crisis of liberalism. Weber was certainly a liberal.
o Parallel to Marx, who thought that this could be altered by the transition to
socialism. Weber disagreed – thought that planned economy to solve distribution
would result in a greater need for a bureaucracy.
 o Discipline has been institutionalised. The modern citizen is part of the rational,
disciplinary ethos that penetrates all of social life.
 Bureaucracy develops more perfectly the more it is ‘de-humanised’ – the more
completely it succeeds in eliminating from official business emotional elements.
o The actors in a bureaucracy do not matter – the system would function in exactly
the same way with or without them.

What is to be done?

 This is where the relationship with democracy comes about.

 The plan to reduce the harmful effects of bureaucratisation are as follows:
o Impose universal suffrage. Liberalise social relations.
o Parliamentarise the Reich. Institutionalise principles that run against the political
rule of administrators; this is the only counterweight to a bureaucracy once
notables have been removed.
o Introduce a plebiscite for political leaders. Reduce administrative and political
power. Charismatic market for power only way to counterbalance administration
 Need parties to stop demagoguery.
o Promote local life. At the level of neighbourhood choral societies, this ‘sectlike
society’ is a medium to diffuse charismatic qualities among lay people. It will,
along with strong national leadership, be a bulwark against bureaucratic
petrification.
 Bureaucracy and democracy are antagonistic powers – they represent meritocracy and
equality.
o When combined in bureaucratised democracy, they can be mutually beneficial.
 Best combination of efficiency and freedom.

 Ultimately though, Weber remained pessimistic.

o Bureaucracy is just too efficient.
o Bureaucratisation was not for the social scientist to disparage, but it removes
personal liberty.
o Modernisation brings not just this ‘iron cage’, but also an explosion in subjective
values, because moral agency has been removed. Modern individuals act only on
their aesthetic impulse.
o The modern world has created a disempowered citizen. ‘Sensualists without
heart’ and ‘specialists without spirit’.

Development over time

 These ideas show remarkable consistency across Weber’s work.

o He concentrated on individual freedom in an increasingly rationalised society
(compare his dystopian analysis of rationalism with Hegel).
o Continued search for the ‘person of vocation’ of The Protestant Ethic – how can
the modern citizen combine methodical rationality and conviction in a society of
value fragmentation and bureaucracy.