Abstract
This article addresses the relationship between bureaucracy and democracy, bureaucratic politics and democratic politics. Bureaucratic theories and politics are discussed, democratic theories and politics are analyzed, and the argument in favor of reconciling bureaucracy and democracy is analyzed with implications for democratic theory and public administration. Persistence of bureaucracy is stressed, deficiencies in democratic theory and practice are noted, and the importance of a functionally balanced and professionally competent bureaucracy is reminded for administration of sound governance in both developed and developing societies. It is hypocrisy to speak of functioning democracy without a balanced professional bureaucracy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnew, J. (2005). Hegemony: The new shape of global power. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Amsden, A. (2007). Escape from empire. Cambridge: MIT.
Antonio, R. J. (1979). The contradiction of domination and production in bureaucracy: the contribution of organizational efficiency to the decline of the Roman Empire. American Sociological Review, 44, 895–912.
Caplan, B. (2007). The myth of the rational voter: Why democracies choose bad policies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Cook, J. M. (1983). The Persian Empire. New York: Schoken Books.
Downs, A. (1967). Inside bureaucracy. Boston: Little, Brown.
Eisenstadt, S. N. (1963, 1993). The political systems of empires: A study of bureaucratic societies. Glencoe: The Free Press.
Etzioni-Halevey, E. (1983). Bureucracyu and democracy: A political dilemma. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Farazmand, A. (1989). Bureaucracy, the state, and revolution in modern Iran: Agrarian reform and regime politics. NY: Praeger.
Farazmand, A. (1999). Globalization and public administration. Public Administration Review, 59(6), 509–522.
Farazmand, A. (2002). Privatization and globalization: a critical analysis with implications for public management education and training. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 68(3), 355–371.
Farazmand, A. (2004). Sound governance: Policy and administrative innovations. Wetport: Praeger.
Farazmand, A. (2009a). Building administrative capacity for the age of rapid globalization: a modest prescription for survival in the 21st century. Public Administration Review, 69(6), 1007–1020.
Farazmand, A. (2009b). Bureaucracy, administration, and politics: An introduction. In A. Farazmand (Ed.), Bureaucracy and administration (pp. 1–18). Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis.
Farazmand, A. (2009c). Bureaucracy and administration. Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis.
Frye, R. (1975). The golden age of Persia. New York: Harper and Row.
Goodsell, C. T. (2004). The case for bureaucracy (4th ed.). Washington: CQ Press.
Hummel, R. (1976). The bureaucratic experience. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Kelly, K. (2007). New views on north-south relations of imperialism. In A. Farazmand & J. Pinkowski (Eds.), Handbook of globalization, governance, and public administration (pp. 759–797). Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis.
Kennedy, P. (1989). The rise and fall of the great powers. New York: Vintage Books.
Kingsley, J. D. (1944). Representative bureaucracy. Yellow Spring: Antioch Press.
Korten, D. (2001). When corporations rule the world (2nd ed.). Westport: Kumarian P.
Krislov, S. (1974). The representative bureaucracy. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Lenin, I. I. (1971). State and revolution. New York: International Publishers.
Marx, K. (1951, 1967). Selected works. Moscow: Progress Books.
Meier, K. (1993). Representative bureaucracy: a theoretical and empirical exposition. Research in Public Administration, 2, 1–35.
Meier, K., & Bohthe, J. (2007). Politics and the bureaucracy: Policy making in the fourth branch of government (5th ed.). Belmont: Thompson/Wadsworth.
Merton, R. (1940, 1957). Bureaucratic structure and personality. In R. Merton (Ed.), Social theory and social structure (pp. 195–206). Glencoe: Free Press.
Mosca, G. (1939). The ruling class. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mosher, F. (1968). Democracy and the public service. New York: Oxford University Press.
Niskanen, W. (1971). Bureaucracy and representative government. Chicago: Adline & Atherton.
Olmstead, A. T. (1948). History of the Persian Empire: The Achaemenid period. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Osborne, D., & Gaebler, T. (1992). Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
Parenti, M. (1988, 2010). Democracy for the few. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Parsons, T. (1951). The social systems. New York: Free Press.
Pharr, S., & Putnam, R. D. (2000). Disaffected democracies: What’s troubling the trilateral countries? Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Riggs, F. (2009). Bureaucracy: A profound puzzle for Presidentialism. In A. Farazmand (Ed.), Bureaucracy and administration (pp. 155–203). Boca Raton: Taylor & and Francis.
Schumpeter, J. (1950). Capitalism, socialism, and democracy. New York: Harper & Row.
Suleiman, E. N. (2003). Dismantling the democratic state. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Waldo, D. (1948). The administrative state. New York: Ronald.
Waldo, D. (1992). The enterprise of public administration. Novato: Chandler and Sharp.
Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organizations. (trans: Parsons, A.M., Parsons, T.). New York: Free Press.
Weber, M. (1968). Economy and society. In 3 Volumes. NY: Bedminster Press.
Wilson, W. (1887). The study of administration. Political Science Quarterly, 2(2), 197–220.
Wilson, J. Q. (1989). Bureaucracy. New York: Basic Books.
Woods, N. (2006). The globalizers: The IMF, the World Bank, and their borrowers. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Acknowledgments
This article benefitted from my student, Amy Elizabeth Carthwright, whose sharp eyes in proofreading the earlier drafts of the manuscript proved her contribution to be more than a superb assistance--her work is highly appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Farazmand, A. Bureaucracy and Democracy: A Theoretical Analysis. Public Organiz Rev 10, 245–258 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-010-0137-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-010-0137-0