Max Weber

Part #1 is a research paper

Max Weber, a German sociologist, has been the most influential theorist of bureaucracy. Weber believed that societies evolved from the primitive and mystical to the complex and rational. He paid particular attention to changing forms of political authority in this process of evolution. In his view, political authorities secured obedience by acquiring various kinds of legitimacy (Mommsen, pp87). He identified three types of authority, each of which had a different source of legitimacy. Tribal societies, and also absolute monarchs, rely on traditional authority legitimized by the sanctity of tradition. Military, religious, and other leaders often rely on charismatic authority legitimized by the personal standing of the leader. Finally, rational-legal societies rely on legal authority legitimized by reason. Law defines the obligations and rights of rulers and ruled. Reason leads the ruled to obey the rulers. Weber argued that there was a general pattern of social evolution toward the kind of rational-legal authority found in modern states.

Weber described bureaucracy as the institutional form of rational-legal authority. Bureaucracy does not involve public officials dominating government. It requires only that full-time, professional officials are responsible for the everyday affairs of the state. Elected politicians might formulate policy, but officials implement it. Many aspects of bureaucracy derive, in Weber's analysis, from its rational-legal setting. The dominance of legal authority entails an impersonal rule in which abstract rules are applied to particular cases. Similarly, the dominance of rationality appears in the division of an organization into specialized functions carried out by experts (Swedberg, pp230).

Though bureaucracy came in to the light in later part of eighteenth century, Weber's theory of bureaucracy still remain important in modern organizations and management. This happens due to wealth of research and ideas that generated by Weber in the past, has continuing in the present. So because of this some aspects of Max Weber's bureaucracy are still most effective today (Mommsen, pp87). Centralization and specialization aspect of Max Weber's theory still most effective in modern organization no matter either it is public organization or private organization or government. In the Weber's account of the bureaucratic organization, division of labor played central part (Weber, pp. 245). Jurisdictional proficiency is a main factor of bureaucratic organization, which is broken into units with clear responsibilities. Bureaucratic organizations are seen to be well structured and hierarchical.

Because of well structured and hierarchical organization, command and control are understood by the all. In the bureaucracies, members enter with special knowledge and skills gained by some form of external training or examination. In this system superior qualification rise to the top position means at higher level and those with fewer qualification are positioned below them. The responsibilities of individuals expand with movement on the way to upward through an organizational hierarchy. As Johnston, K. said 'The captain of the ship is responsible for whatever happens on or to the ship.' In this form of bureaucracy the top executive would have control over the entire organization and the outside world would know who ...