Bureaucracy and the Imaginal Realm: Max Weber, Rationality and the Substantive Basis of Public Administration
Author ORCID Identifier
Julie Langer: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1864-0351
Publication Title
Perspectives on Public Management and Governance
ISSN
23984910
E-ISSN
23984929
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Max Weber is an important figure in Public Administration. Nearly all foundational texts in the field include his theory of bureaucracy. Yet, although the field teaches the core tenets of an efficient bureaucracy, namely, formalization, division of labor, impersonality, and hierarchy, his view of the formally rational thought systems undergirding it and the role of values in shaping bureaucratic action are largely overlooked. An attempt here is made to reexamine Weber's conceptualization of bureaucracy and review his propositions regarding both the promise and peril it holds for social progress. In order to evaluate the degree to which Weber's darker propositions have come to fruition and the forces at play acting as bulwarks against them, the relationship between formal and substantive rationality is considered against the backdrop of changing administrative models in the United States. Based on this analysis, a substantive path for the future of Public Administration in the United States is laid out.
First Page
122
Last Page
134
Publication Date
6-1-2022
DOI
10.1093/ppmgov/gvab033
Recommended Citation
Langer, Julie, "Bureaucracy and the Imaginal Realm: Max Weber, Rationality and the Substantive Basis of Public Administration" (2022). NIU Bibliography. 50.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/niubib/50
Department
Department of Public Administration
