ADS404 – INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Chapter 2:
Bureaucracy and
Public Organisation

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

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Introduction to Public
Organisation
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INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ORGANISATION

 The Public Sector is usually comprised of organizations that are owned and
operated by the government and exist to provide services for its citizens.
 Similar to the voluntary sector, organizations in the public sector do not seek to
generate a profit.
 Funding for public services are usually raised through a variety of methods,
including taxes, fees, and through financial transfers from other levels of
government (e.g. from a federal to a provincial or state government).
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TYPES OF ORGANISATION

“Organization is a system of co-operative activities of two or more

persons.” Organization is the process of dividing up of the activities.

 Line Organization: In this type of organization, authority flows from top to bottom and responsibility
flows from bottom to top.

 Functional Organization: The main feature of functional organization is the division of work and
specialization. In each department, there is one expert. An expert is not only a counselor but also an
administrator. He advices his subordinates. An Expert does not only bear responsibility of his
department but also bear responsibility of all departments.

 Line and Staff Organization: Line and staff organization is that in which the line heads are assisted by
specialist staff. In each department, there is one expert and some line personnels / line officials. Line
official will do all managerial work and expert will give advice to line official or line personnel.
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Ministry of Women, Family

and Community Development
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Definition of Bureaucracy
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DEFINITION OF BUREAUCRACY

 “The bureaucracy” is the totality of government offices or bureaus (a French word

meaning “office”) that constitute the permanent government of a state—that is,
those public functions that continue irrespective of changes in political leadership.
 “The bureaucracy” refers to all of the public officials of a government—both high
and low, elected and appointed.
 Bureaucracy is often used as a general invective to refer to any inefficient
organization encumbered by red tape.
 Examples: Police officers, teachers, firefighters, scientists, and doctors who work
with government agencies.
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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

OF BUREAUCRACY
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Types of Bureaucracy
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TYPES OF BUREAUCRACY
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Max Weber’s Theory of

Bureaucracy and its Criticism
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MAX WEBER’S THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY

1. The bureaucrats must be free as individuals; they can only be bossed around
with respect to the impersonal duties of their offices.
2. The bureaucrats are arranged in a clearly defined hierarchy of offices, the
traditional scalar chain wherein every bureaucrat has an unambiguous place
3. The functions of each office are clearly specified in writing.
4. The bureaucrats accept and maintain their appointments freely—without duress.
5. Appointments to office are made on the basis of technical qualifications, which
ideally are substantiated by examinations administered by the appointing
authority, a university, or both.
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MAX WEBER’S THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY

6. The bureaucrats receive money salaries and pension rights, which reflect the
varying levels of the hierarchy. While the bureaucrats are free to leave the
organization, they can be removed from their offices only under previously
stated, specific circumstances.
7. The office must be the bureaucrat’s sole or at least major occupation.
8. A career system is essential; while promotion may be the result of either
seniority or merit, it must be premised on the judgment of hierarchical superiors.
9. The bureaucrats do not have property rights to their office nor any personal
claim to the resources that go with it.
10. The bureaucrat’s conduct must be subject to systematic control and strict
discipline.
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MAX WEBER’S CRITISICMS ON

BUREAUCRACY
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Neutral Bureaucracy
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NUETRAL BEREAUCRACY

'Not biased or taking sides: not favoring one side over

another’
 Neutrality often means loyalty to the government of the day.
 Neutrality has become synonymous with supporting the government.
 The concept of neutrality calls for impartial treatment of the citizens when
carrying out government policies.
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NEED FOR NUETRAL BEREAUCRACY

 Neutrality depicts that public officials are not slaves to either the politicians or any other authority other
than the moral authority of the Constitution. It shows that the principle of neutrality implies a measure of
independence both from the partisan interests of the government of the day and the exogenous agenda that
prompts certain social groups to cow others down to humiliating vulnerability.
 Bureaucracy should be neutral in terms of ideology and politics. So that there will not be an affinity to a
particular class or ideology. Most importantly, it also suggests that even in the post-retirement period, public
officials could make significant interventions for more noble purposes underlying the good society even
without joining a particular brand of formal politics that has scant regard for constitutional principles such as
freedom from fear and human dignity. For a genuine public official, commitment to constitutional principles is
not only a lifelong project but, more importantly, it can be carried out without any political or ideological
mediation.
 If bureaucracy won't be neutral then it cannot lend its whole-hearted support to the existing political
system, and to the economic and political system if any radical changes are introduced.
 Without neutrality, there can be a close nexus between bureaucracy and large-scale enterprises which could further lead to
crony capitalism.
 In advanced societies, there is a number of classes and this finally leads to the conflict among classes. The officials should
remain neutral in this conflict. Otherwise, they will be very eager to protect the interests of the class/classes to which they
belong.
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ADVANTAGES OF NUETRAL BEREAUCRACY

Central
authority in It supports the
bureaucracy hiring of
makes it specialized
effective in officials
organising

It follows It plays an
Standard important role
Operating in policy
Procedure making
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DISADVANTAGES OF NUETRAL
BEREAUCRACY

It can hamper It breeds

achievement boredom and
of results in can affect
time productivity

It results to
passive and It can result to
rule-based inefficiency
human beings
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Weberian Bureaucracy in
Malaysia
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WEBERIAN BUREAUCRACY IN MALAYSIA

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New Public Management

(NPM)
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PHILOSOPHY OF NEW PUBLIC

MANAGEMENT
“NPM is a part of a framework that intended to explain the government
agenda and authoritative decisions in a given place and time. Hence, the
concept of administrative philosophy is a tool of political and historical
analysis” (Kalimullah et al., 2012)
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TECHNIQUES OF NEW PUBLIC

MANAGEMENT
Key elements include various forms of decentralizing management
within public services:
 Creation of autonomous agencies
 Devolution of budgets and financial control
 Contracting out and other market-type mechanisms
 Emphasis on performance, outputs and customer orientation
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NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA

 The Malaysian public sector has undergone various transformations since the
Independence. From its custodial role in the newly independent country, the public
sector had changed and taken an active role in the country’s economic development.
 However, since the 1980s onwards, the philosophy and techniques of New Public
Management (NPM) had been implemented in Malaysia.
 This again transformed the public sector from being an engine of the country’s
economic growth and development, to become a facilitator to the private sector and
service provider to the public.
 In line with NPM’s underlying belief of superiority of business-like practices,
various contemporary management practices and philosophy were implemented
such as the quality control circle and total quality management in the late 1980s, and
performance based appraisal in the remuneration system in early 1990s.
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EXAMPLE OF NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT IN

MALAYSIA
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