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This is a blog for a community of students in Mike Levien's sections of Sociology 101B: "Sociological Theory," in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2009.
Theory Rocks!
This is the informal blog spot for Mike Levien's section of Sociology 101B. For the rest of the semester, we'll use this blog to clarify the work(s) of Durkheim, Weber, Foucault, de Beauvoir, MacKinnon, and Collins. Feel free to endlessly post, and don't forget: Theory Rocks!
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2009
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April
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- Bureaucracy in concrete
- Weber's Rational Bureaucracy within East Bay Conso...
- Bureaucracy and the Human Rights Campaign
- Military and Rational Bureaucracy
- The Spirit of Capitalism
- Rational Bureaucracy and Safe Passage
- Weber's Rational Bureaucracy in Maganda
- An Institution of Rational Bureaucracy
- Weber's Rational Bureaucracy and the Children's Sh...
- Rational Bureaucracy in Professional Baseball
- This short memo illustrates the fundamental featu...
- Rational Bureaucracy in The Western Hemisphere Ins...
- Bureaucracy in School
- Weber's Rational Bureaucracy in Public High Schools
- Rational Bureaucracy in the American Red Cross
- Weber' Bureaucracy in a Middle School Tutoring Agency
- Bureaucracy and the Men's Story Project
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April
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Weber’s theory of bureaucracy directly contrasts that of Patrimonialism. Whereas Patrimonialism functions in a very subjective way, rational Bureaucracy operates in a very objective, calculable way.
ReplyDeleteThere are six institutional features that create the foundation for bureaucracy. A fixed jurisdiction of duties around a visible hierarchy solidifies a stable structure that is nonexistent in Patrimonalism (196). Officials, whom must work full-time, have a separation between their work and home (198). They must undergo expert training to obtain their position, which prevents work being passed down by loyalty and subjective agreements. Finally, the management of officials through rules and documents streamlines the bureaucratic process in an objective way and guards against changes in official’s duties by unfixed authority figures prevalent in Patrimonialism.
Most importantly, the official must know that their job is a vocation; it is a duty to work and not a pleasure (198). They are appointed by higher authority figures and granted tenure for life under the assumption that they will commit themselves to the work (199). They place high value on the Status of an official and wish to make a career out of it, through merit-based promotions, and for which rewards coincide with Official positions in bureaucracy (200-204).
For bureaucracy to exist there must be four preconditions. While past administration collected taxes from people using officials, these officials are be expropriated from the system. Since the bureaucrat no longer has access to the administration, they need a money economy; paid salaries will replace the tax system (204). This new system must be governed through a set of rational laws, commonly referred to as the “Roman” laws (218). Lastly, bureaucracy must operate under a democracy, for which all people must be treated equally under the law (224).
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has many key bureaucratic elements. First, there is a clearly defined hierarchy with the “executives” defining themselves as the “President” and “Managing Director” over the various committees. Even in the committees themselves, there are positions such as “committee director,” “senior deputy,” and “associate director.” In fact, most of HRC’s staff has a specific title that relates their authoritative position to another staff person. This most likely encourages status recognition and social esteem. Since people have gradually moved into higher positions, people most likely make careers within HRC. Unfortunately, there was no information on if these positions had tenure.
The HRC also has the six institutional features. Within the blatantly visible hierarchy, there are specific assigned duties to each position that is clearly laid on their website. These full-time positions are governed by government laws that separate work from home. Each staff person has a resume-like description of their prior experiences, which legitimizes how they have attained their positions and also acts as a status symbol for both themselves and HRC itself. By having many “qualified” people employed within HRC, the organization itself attains social prestige. Finally, it is also governed by rules and documents through labor contracts.
What is highly un-bureaucratic about the HRC is that it has a “Board of Directors,” which is a group of volunteers comprised of corporate and community leaders. This board is the governing body for the corporation and they solely determine HRC’s mission and purpose. According to the website, the board has “ultimate authority over the organization’s actions, including fiscal management and budget approval and policy.” Weber would not understand why the HRC staff would make a career out of something for which even the “executive” does not have ultimate authority. Furthermore, what motivates people to join the board of directors since it is on a volunteer basis.
I thought your analysis of the HRC staff was great. I think the voluntary basis for obtaining a job was the same challenge I faced when writing about the ASUC since there is no direct salary for those in office/on the board of directors. One thing about both of our our organizations is that they both have one common goal. HRC works to campaign for LGBT rights, while the ASUC is looking to improve student life as a whole. I think many organizations face this challenge when people voluntarily run for positions without a salary. They do however, receive social esteem for their positions!
ReplyDeleteI mostly became interested in your HRC blog because I once wrote a press release for them. VERY interesting blog post!