Bureaucracy is a type of government which is practiced presently in most countries. Basically, it can be seen as a form of administrative system. A bureaucratic government represents a government body in which people involved are the non-elective one, i.e. they are not politicians. These people are mainly appointed and they help in setting policies or rules and regulations to be followed. In some parts of the country, this type of government is not supported by the people. However, it can be seen functioning still in most countries in the world.
A bureaucratic government is somewhat complex to maintain. Many groups across the world criticize practicing bureaucracy. While some consider this as a rational body of government.
There can be both positive as well negative sides to the practicing of bureaucracy. Both of these effects have been explained as follows.
Positive effects of Bureaucracy:
- Effective organization and management:
Bureaucracy means having a kind of hierarchy in a particular organization. For each person involved in a governmental department, there will be a role for each one to play. This is because each command will work in chain. Performance of the people at lower ranks can then be duly noted and monitored. Since the bureaucratic government makes the rules and regulations, the following of the same ensures a systematic flow of duties. Hence, all of this helps in effective management of the government as a whole.
- Hiring system of bureaucrats:
Bureaucrats are nothing but the appointed officials. These officials have a well-established educational background. As a result, they are highly intellectual and they know what they are doing. They have expertise on the subjects they are supposed to handle. Since they are educated enough, they can carry out all the decision-making tasks more 3 effectively. Even better than the elected officials. Bureaucracy, in this sense, promote the hiring of such educated appointed officials.
- A systematic procedure:
The appointed officials of bureaucracy make the rules and regulations as an effort to bring efficiency in the results and procedures. The bureaucrats here are supposed to follow a systematic procedure which are told by a set of instructions in which they should work. Following a systematic procedure, the tasks will be handled more efficiently and results will be crisp and fast.
- Everyone stands equal:
In a bureaucracy, everyone stands equal. All people are treated fairly and everyone in the scene is required to follow the same procedure. For example, if we are talking about a student who need to obtain a loan, he/she needs to go through a defined procedure that would expect them to meet certain important requirements. The rules and regulations made by a bureaucratic government stands equal for all the people, regardless of their affiliation to any officials.
- Merit based hiring of officials:
For a bureaucratic government to work, the appointed officials of its team are hired on the basis of a certain criteria. They must pass the qualify exam and must be educationally qualified enough to be appointed as the officials in such a government.
Negative effects of Bureaucracy:
- Delay of the result:
Since a lot of officials are involved in a bureaucratic government and every rule or policy has to pass through the approval of each before it is finalized, this takes a lot of time in deciding. Some matters that require the immediate attention and action can be delayed in such a case. This is because of the chain of commands and the complete procedure is really time consuming. This is one of the major cons of a bureaucratic government.
- Bureaucratic government gets boring after a time:
Critics and officials in a bureaucratic government keep criticizing and repeating the same jobs over and over. After a time, the members of the organization can get really bored of the routine they are bound to follow. This adds to the downfall in productivity. Officials of the government tend to be absent and directly affect the system. This is also true in the case of a business organization.
- Affects freedom of an individual:
This is mainly a view of the people who are against a bureaucratic government. They feel that the rules and regulations made as a result of bureaucracy are too strict and hamper with the basic freedom of an individual. There come too many restrictions, because of which it becomes difficult to act on their own which is so not beneficial to these people in any way.
Therefore, bureaucracy can be a good form of government, but not entirely as some people might see it. It is still practiced in many countries and is expected to prevail up to a certain extent.