Values and Dysfunctions II:
Bureaucratic structures as a condition of equal rights and organizational inefficiencies
Andreas Ebneth, Patrick Fritzsche, Maik Horn
Classical liberalism values:
freedom
equality
tolerance
ind. responsibility
property
Characteristics of the modern state
•
sovereignity
•
authority over people and territory
•
firm locations with specific instituions and decisions
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cleary defined territory  by citizens recognized
•
people as citizens have different rights
•
major decisions are made in elected organs and implemented by responsible
administrations
du Gay 2005, p. 42.
(Benz 2001, p. 224ff.; Ellwein/Hesse 1997, p. 67ff.)
Sovereignty and authoritarian liberalism are no enemies of freedom and equality.
Especially the sovereignty of a state is a assumption for both.
The non-sectarian bureaucratic comportment of the person
“The non-sectarian bureaucratic comportment of the person can be seen as a positive ethical
and political achievement.”
 to be non-sectarian in character:
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a focus of ethical commitment and duty
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they provide the bureaucrat with a distinctive ethical bearing and status-conduct
du Gay 2005, p. 51ff.
Ethical attributes of a good bureaucrat:
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strict adherence to procedure
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acceptance of sub- and superordination
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bnegation of personal moral enthusiasms
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commitment to the purposes of the office
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developing appropriate professional relations with one’s colleagues”
du Gay 2005, p. 52ff.
 political neutrality as a key feature of bureaucratic state service
Example for inefficiency bureaucracy
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delimitation of competencies
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employees take their tasks to seriously
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bureaucrats tend to overemphasize on formalities and rules
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Bureaucrats rather find new rules or regulations to solve problems
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bureaucratic organisations are not able to investigate innovations
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hierarchical structure of bureaucracies
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Different expectations between individuals and bureaucratic organisations.
Bonazzi (2002) p. 202 ff. and Derlien (2011) p. 202 f
Ethos and bureaucracy
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The bureaucratic commitment to norms of impersonality, adherence to procedure and
so on are seen as antiethical
Because bureaucrativ norms are assumed to be founded upon an unhappy separation
of reason and emotion, pleasure and duty and because this is deemed to be inimical to
individual liberty, personal responsibility and other “enterprising” virtues, bureaucracy
is represented as fundamentally unethical (du Gay p. 66)
Role of the Manager:
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Manager have to guarantee for individual liberty and self-realisation and selffulfilment and they should not establish work as a painful obligation  maximum
businessing
Businessing means assigning the performance of a function or activity to an individual
or group
Businessing represents individuals and groups as units of management
Furthermore necessary: horizontal structures, enhancing employees as individuals ,
managerial and non-managerial staff has to be businessed, charismatic manager
(du Gay p. 65)
Charismatic conduct and ethical principles
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According to Weber: genuine charismatic domination knows no abstract laws and
regulations and no formal adjudication (du Gay p. 69)
 “objective law” trough personal experience, godlike heroic strength
 Transforms all values and breaks all traditional rational norms
 Legitimation trough recognition by others  as long as they follow their
charismatic leader, charisma is proved
Max Weber and ethical resp. efficient bureaucracy
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-
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there are no several personae, no specific fundamental personhood, no specific ethical
or rationality person/manager (du Gay p. 74)
the bureau itself comprises a particular ethos and represents the person of a good
bureaucrat
the bureau represents a product of particular ethical techniques and practices through
which individuals develop the disposition and capacity to conduct themselves
according to the ethos of bureaucratic office
impersonality is a crucial feature of bureaucratic rationality which does not equate
with a general denial of humanity, it is possibleto threat individuals as cases, apart
from status and ascription (du Gay p. 75)
A bureau represents an important ethical and indeed political resource because it
serves to divorce the administration of public life from private moral absolutisms (du
Gay p. 76)