AS DISCUSSED LAST TIME, WEBER VIEWED BUREAUCRATIC
COORDINATION OF HUMAN ACTIONS IS THE DISTINCTIVE
MARK OF MODERN SOCIAL STRUCTURE.
RECALL WEBER'S IDEAL BUREAUCRACY...
WEBER 
WAS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT BUREAUCRATIZATION
HAD ON HUMAN CULTURE.
HE NOTED SEVERAL DYSFUNCTIONS:
OLIGARCHY
RATIONALITY
DEHUMANIZATION
IRRATIONALITY FACTOR
BY ITS VERY NATURE BUREAUCRACY GENERATES AN
ENORMOUS DEGREE OF UNREGULATED AND OFTEN UNPERCEIVED
SOCIAL POWER.
BUREAUCRACY TENDS TO RESULT IN OLIGARCHY,
OR RULE BY THE FEW---BY OFFICIALS AT THE TOP
OF THE ORGANIZATION.
ROBERT MICHEL'S IRON LAW OF OLIGARCHY: "WHO
SAYS ORGANIZATION, SAYS OLIGARCHY."
ACCORDING TO THE IRON LAW, DEMOCRACY AND LARGE
SCALE ORGANIZATION ARE INCOMPATIBLE.
THIS IS DUE TO THE VERY NATURE OF BUREAUCRATIC
ORGANIZATION WHICH IS HIERARCHICALLY ORGANIZED
WITH TREMENDOUS POWER INVESTED IN THE TOP
OFFICES.
THESE ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE REINFORCED
BY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MEMBERS OF THE ORGANIZATION.
LEADERS HAVE ACCESS AND CONTROL OVER INFORMATION
AND FACILITIES THAT ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO THE
RANK-AND-FILE.
THESE LEADERS TEND TO PROMOTE JUNIOR OFFICIALS
WHO SHARE THEIR OPINIONS.
THE RANK AND FILE ALSO PROMOTE OLIGARCHY.
THEY TEND TO LOOK TO LEADERS FOR POLICY DIRECTIVES,
AND ARE GENERALLY PREPARED TO ALLOW THE LEADERS
TO EXERCISE THEIR JUDGEMENT ON MOST MATTERS.
WEBER POINTED OUT THAT THE TREND TOWARD GREATER
LIBERTY IN MODERN SOCIETIES REQUIRES BUREAUCRATIZATION
OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
MODERN DEMOCRACY, THROUGH THE VOTE, HAS A
CERTAIN INFLUENCE OVER THE ELITES WHO WILL
RULE THEM, BUT THERE CANNOT BE FULL PARTICIPATORY
DEMOCRACY.
THOSE ON TOP OF BUREAUCRATIC HIERARCHIES CAN
COMMAND VAST RESOURCES IN PURSUIT OF THEIR
INTERESTS.
THIS GIVES THE ELITE AT THE TOP OF THESE HIERARCHIES
VAST POWER.
HE SAYS,
"THE MOST PERVASIVE FEATURE THAT DISTINGUISHES
CONTEMPORARY LIFE IS THAT IT IS DOMINATED
BY LARGE, COMPLEX, AND FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS..."OUR
ABILITY TO ORGANIZE THOUSANDS AND EVEN MILLIONS
OF MEN IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH LARGE-SCALE
TASKS--BE THEY ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, OR MILITARY--IS
ONE OF OUR GREATEST STRENGTHS...
"THE POSSIBILITY THAT FREE MEN BECOME MERE
COGS IN THE BUREAUCRATIC MACHINES WE SET UP
FOR THIS PURPOSE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST THREATS
TO OUR LIBERTY"
EFFICIENCY REFERS TO THE DRIVE FOR EFFICIENCY
BY ALL FORMAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.
THIS SEARCH FOR THE MOST EFFICIENT MEANS OF
ATTAINING A GOAL HAS BECOME A MAJOR FORCE
IN BOTH CAPITALIST AND GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION.
CALCULABILITY REFERS TO THE NEED FOR PREDICTABILITY
AND ORDER IN SOCIAL LIFE.
DATA SEEMINGLY TAKES ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN,
THE REIFICATION OF NUMBERS AND STATISTICS
BECOMES ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS REALITY ITSELF.
DEMYSTIFICATION MEANS THE ELIMINATION OF SPIRITUAL
MEANING AND MORAL SIGNIFICANCE FROM SOCIAL
LIFE AND THEIR REPLACEMENT BY SYSTEMATIC,
LOGICAL, AND REASONABLE ELEMENTS.
THE
MODERN WORLD HAS BEEN DESERTED BY THE GODS.
MAN HAS CHASED THEM AWAY AND HAS MADE CALCULABLE
AND PREDICTABLE WHAT IN AN EARLIER AGE HAD
BEEN GOVERNED BY HIS GRACE.
BUREAUCRACIES ARE BUILT ON THE PRINCIPLES
OF EFFICIENCY AND CALCULABILITY.
THEY PROGRESSIVELY REPLACE TRADITIONAL SOCIAL
ORGANIZATIONS WITH RATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
DESIGNED TO PERFORM LIKE MACHINES.
TO BECOME INDUSTRIALIZED IS TO BECOME RATIONALIZED,
A PROCESS AFFECTING EVERY AREA OF SOCIETY,
THE MOST PUBLIC AND THE MOST PRIVATE, THE
STATE AND THE ECONOMY AS WELL AS THE RELATIONS
OF MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND PERSONAL FRIENDSHIPS.
THE RESULT IS A SOCIETY THAT IS CONSTANTLY
QUESTIONING TRADITIONAL WAYS, ABSOLUTE VALUES,
AND CONSTANTLY DEVISING MORE RATIONAL WAYS
TO ACHIEVE DESIRED ENDS.
AS BUREAUCRACIES SATISFY, DELIGHT, AND SATIATE
US WITH THEIR OUTPUT OF GOODS AND SERVICES,
THEY ALSO SHAPE OUR MENTALITY, THEY DEFINE
OUR VERY HUMANITY.
WEBER WROTE THAT "THE CALCULABILTY OF DECISION-MAKING...IS
MORE FULLY REALIZED THE MORE THE BUREAUCRACY
'DEPERSONALIZES' ITSELF...
"THE MORE COMPLETELY IT SUCCEEDS IN ACHIEVING
THE EXCLUSION OF LOVE, HATRED, AND EVERY PURELY
PERSONAL-- ESPECIALLY IRRATIONAL AND INCALCULABLE--FEELING
FROM THE EXECUTION OF OFFICIAL TASKS...
"IN THE PLACE OF THE OLD-TYPE RULER WHO IS
MOVED BY SYMPATHY, FAVOR, GRACE, AND GRATITUDE,
MODERN CULTURE REQUIRES FOR ITS SUSTAINING
EXTERNAL APPARATUS THE EMOTIONALLY DETACHED,
AND HENCE RIGOROUSLY PROFESSIONAL EXPERT."
ULTIMATELY, RATIONALIZATION MUST LEAD TO DEHUMANIZATION---THE
ELIMINATION OF CONCERN FOR HUMAN VALUES.
BUREAUCRACY IS NOT RATIONAL IN THE SENSE OF
THE MORAL ACCEPTABILITY OF ITS GOALS OR THE
MEANS USED TO ACHIEVE THEM.
INDIVIDUAL OFFICIALS HAVE SPECIALIZED AND
LIMITED RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY AND SO
ARE UNLIKELY TO RAISE BASIC QUESTIONS REGARDING
MORAL IMPLICATIONS.
THE PROBLEM IS FURTHER COMPOUNDED BY THE CORRESPONDING
WEAKENING OF MANY TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS
OF FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND RELIGION WHICH SERVED
TO BIND PRE-INDUSTRIAL MAN TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE GROUP.
FINALLY, RATIONALIZATION CAUSES THE WEAKENING
OF TRADITIONAL AND RELIGIOUS MORAL AUTHORITY--THE
VALUES OF EFFICIENCY PREDOMINATE.
WEBER'S VIEWS ABOUT THE INESCAPABLE RATIONALIZATION
AND BUREAUCRATIZATION OF THE WORLD HAVE OBVIOUS
SIMILARITIES TO MARX'S NOTION OF ALIENATION
AND DURKHEIM'S CONCEPT OF ANOMIE.
WEBER BELIEVED THAT THE ALIENATION DOCUMENTED
BY MARX WAS NOT ONLY DUE TO CAPITALISM, BUT
WAS A CONSEQUENCE OF INDUSTRIALISM AND BUREAUCRACY.
WEBER ARGUED THAT "IN ALL RELEVANT SPHERES
OF MODERN SOCIETY MEN COULD NO LONGER ENGAGE
IN SOCIALLY SIGNIFICANT ACTION UNLESS THEY
JOINED A LARGE-SCALE ORGANIZATION...
...THEY WOULD BE ADMITTED INTO THIS ORGANIZATION
ONLY UPON THE CONDITION THAT THEY SACRIFICED
THEIR PERSONAL DESIRES TO THE IMPERSONAL GOALS
AND PROCEDURES THAT GOVERNED THE WHOLE."
WE WILL LOOK AT THIS IRRATIONALITY FACTOR
IN MUCH MORE DETAIL IN THE NEXT PRESENTATION.
If you are interested in the big picture you
should take a look at Macro Social Theory,
a book that reviews the theories of classical
macro social theorists such as Karl Marx,
Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim as well as the
work of many who extended their theories to
better reflect modern times such as Norbert
Elias, Gerhard Lenski, and John Bellamy Foster.
This book can be found exclusively at Amazon.com
at a reasonable price.
Also see Sociocultural Systems: Principles
of Structure and Change to learn how these
insights contribute to a fuller understanding
of modern societies.
Sociocultural Systems can be purchased at
most online bookstores or at Athabasca University
Press.
If you are short of funds Athabasca also offers
a free pdf version of the work.
A significant portion of the royalties I receive
for these books go to the Rogers State University
Foundation in support of students in the Liberal
Arts.
I thank you for your support and interest.
