Friday, April 10, 2009
Rational Bureaucracy in The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
In this short essay, I address the features and pre-conditions of Weber's ideal bureaucracy as well as the characteristics of the official . I then provide evidence of how the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, is an example of Weber's rational bureaucracy.
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In Bureaucracy, Weber explains rational bureaucracy as his ideal type, unique to Western Europe that is the most efficient instrument utilized to pursue goals. This ideal type is evident presently through institutions like the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Under rational bureaucracy, the officials hold a sense of vocation, in contrast to the pursuit of a high income (198). Also, the official is appointed from a superior rather than election (200). This leads to official’s high esteem marked by rank (199). In addition, bureaucrats hold security in jobs through tenure for life (202). Officials also receive a fixed salary based upon status in contrast to work completed (203). The official is set for a career in which he desires a higher position in bureaucracy (203). In support of the official are the characteristics of the bureaucratic institution.
ReplyDeleteWhereas institutions in the past were based on personal relations, bureaucracy functions through fixed jurisdiction with permanent rules (198). Furthermore, a hierarchy of positions exists under which the higher and lower officials supervise one another (197). Management is based upon documentation rather than oral so as to separate private and work life (197). Moreover, officials hold positions full time which serves to divide home life from work life (198). Additionally, officials are hired based upon expert training rather than loyalty and trust (198). Lastly, management follows rules that are learned by each official, rather than favors or privileges earned (198).
The pre-conditions to bureaucracy are a money economy under which the means of administration are dispossessed from corrupt officials and centrally held (205-207). Also, procedural rationality as evident under Roman law comes about through this increasingly rationalized money economy (218). In addition, democracy’s emphasis on equality serves as a means to level off social differences projected within society (224).
The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation embodies Weber’s ideal bureaucracy. Instructors at the WHISC are appointed, not elected from students, by the US Department of Defense. The students and instructors exercise high social esteem by wearing uniforms to class each day with pins and patches, honoring their position. WHISC encourages students to be bureaucrats for life. This idea is evident by Mario Montoya, a former student and instructor at the SOA, who was shuffled off as a Colombian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic rather than being fired for his involvement in the murder of innocent civilians. In addition, faculty is composed of those with experience in military training and combat. Instructors at the school are also paid on a fixed salary from the US Army.
The WHISC enforces fixed jurisdiction through set duties students follow. Also, the WHISC has a 14 member Chain of Command based upon a hierarchy, with the US Secretary of Defense on top, which overlooks the activities. To attend the WHISC, the school must receive biographical documentation of each student ten days prior to arrival. All WHISC students are full time and stay in apartments separate from the facility and either walk or use public transportation. Students at the WHISC are taught by instructors who are experts in their fields and are trained in “democracy, human rights, and ethics.” The WHISC is a military school in which rules and regulations are explained per the handbook. The WHISC serves to fulfill both its functions and the official’s character in the ideal bureaucracy defined by Weber.
Dear Janeen,
ReplyDeleteVery creative, because I don't know of any instance in which you gathered information directly from the institute itself.
You are quite welcome to do so at any time.
I might say you are fairly accurate, but note that your assessment would apply equally to any military education facility in the US Department of Defense.
By the way, when was the last time professors at Berkeley were elected by the students?
I welcome your visit or query.
Sincerely,
Lee A. Rials
Public Affairs Officer
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation