Practice modes
Languages & Literature
Pakistan
World & History
The concept and theories of bureaucracy, its role in Pakistan, and public administration and codes of ethics.
7 of 7 vi. bureaucracy
History, neutrality, the 'steel frame' and negative connotations
Bureaucracy means rule by officials: an administrative system of appointed officials organized in a hierarchy, working through fixed rules and procedures, which implements the decisions of the government.
The ideal type of rational-legal administration
German sociologist Max Weber described bureaucracy as the most rational and efficient form of organization, based on legal-rational authority, hierarchy, fixed rules, specialization, merit, impersonality and written records.
Bureaucracy as an instrument of class rule
Karl Marx saw bureaucracy as an instrument of the ruling class and a parasitic body that serves its own interests, and believed it would disappear in a classless society.
Skilled administration under democratic control
John Stuart Mill valued bureaucracy for its skill and experience, but warned that unchecked bureaucracy becomes a routine-bound 'pedantocracy'. He argued for competent, merit-based officials under representative democratic control.
The politics-administration dichotomy
Woodrow Wilson, in 'The Study of Administration' (1887), argued that administration should be separated from politics and studied as a science, so that government could be run efficiently and professionally.
From the 'steel frame' to the challenges of today
Pakistan's bureaucracy inherited the elite traditions of the colonial Indian Civil Service. It dominated the state in the early decades, was repeatedly purged and reformed, and today faces problems of politicization, declining neutrality, institutional degradation and low real salaries.
The Estacode, conduct rules and comparisons with other countries
Pakistan's civil servants are governed by the Estacode (the compilation of establishment rules), the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1964 and the Efficiency and Discipline Rules. Their effectiveness is limited by weak enforcement, compared with countries such as the UK, Singapore and the USA.