May shot at a definition:
* Superfluous paperwork, that exists only because of out of date regulations or because of the inflexibility of the administration (business or public service) to make processes simpler.
And just to be clear:
* Bureaucracy is not the necessary paperwork to ensure that regulations are followed (especally safety).
@Ponderable saidYour definition is like reducing the Postal Service to postage stamps.
May shot at a definition:
* Superfluous paperwork, that exists only because of out of date regulations or because of the inflexibility of the administration (business or public service) to make processes simpler.
And just to be clear:
* Bureaucracy is not the necessary paperwork to ensure that regulations are followed (especally safety).
Bureaucracy is a set of procedures for ensuring consistent implementation of public policy.
@moonbus
In fact the point is that bureaucracy is the reign of administration, so something (at least conceived to be) negative.
Administration is the necessary work to keep processes running. So the postal service consists of people who define and perform the processes of collecting, transporting and delievering postcards, letters and parcels.
Bureaucracy would be a superfluous process that does not help in the task but adds administrative work.
@moonbus saidnope. seems that most dictionaries define bureaucracy as ponderable did:complicated rules, processes, and written work that make it hard to get something done
Your definition is like reducing the Postal Service to postage stamps.
Bureaucracy is a set of procedures for ensuring consistent implementation of public policy.
i too thought that there is necessary, normal bureaucracy and the exaggerated, tedious kind. Apparently that's not the case
@Ponderable saidExplain how you would process the distribution of public benefits, such as Bürgergeld (unemployment), pensions, issuing driver's licenses, dog licenses, building permits, probate, collecting tax revenues and auditing tax returns, inspecting bridges for safety, inspecting factories for workers' safety, inspecting imported goods at the border for compliance with domestic regulations, inspecting foods and medicines for compliance with safety regulations, ensuring air traffic safety, ensuring children are being taught facts (the Earth is billions of years old) and not fantasies (God made the Earth in 6 days in 4004 BC) in public schools, etc., without bureaucracy, without civil servants doing these jobs. Yes, it is tedious work, and many people despise bureaucracy.
@moonbus
In fact the point is that bureaucracy is the reign of administration, so something (at least conceived to be) negative.
Administration is the necessary work to keep processes running. So the postal service consists of people who define and perform the processes of collecting, transporting and delievering postcards, letters and parcels.
Bureaucracy would be a superfluous process that does not help in the task but adds administrative work.
A de-regulated world where companies 'police' themselves for workers' safety and for the safety of their products is not a world you want to live in.
That is in fact why I discriminate "administration" from "bureaucracy".
If we keep the negative words from the positive it is helpful to discuss.
So if Musk is sacking people from administration, he is not automatically reducing "bureaucracy". He would need to understand the administrative processes and find the "bureaucartic" excesses and then he could finely streamline processes.
To say "all people in administraion are bureaucrats" is not helpful at all.
So I give an example.
In Germany I know of people who think it "bureaucratic" to give the same infromation to different administrative departments. "they should know anyways".
However the departments may not get the infromation from another department.
The same people fear the "glass person" weher administration have a big database on everybody and everyone with access can see all things.
If we are concerende with too much access we must suffer to give the same infromation to different administration departments. It is not "bureaucracy" then, but administraive necessity.
But iof the person who has my original appliaction requires me to duplicate the infromation the very same person already has, the it is an example of "bureaucracy".