Bureaucracy has been recognized to be in many places and institutions. Weber has his own definition of bureaucracy and how certain aspects of it relate to many entities in society. Weber gives seven characteristics of a bureaucracy. He explained those characteristics as offices being bound by rules, those within the bureaucracy have specialized tasks, they’re hierarchical, offices carry special qualifications, staff a part of this bureaucracy do not own the means of productions that they either use or produce, the office is organized, and there are written regulations. Weber explains that a bureaucracy becomes such a massive entity that it begins to operate on its own and that not only people outside of the bureaucracy are not able to destroy it, the people inside it would not be able to as well. In a capitalist society there are many bureaucracies because it itself is one however there are many “sub” bureaucracies under this capitalist society. Two major and obvious examples of a bureaucratic entity would be the police and sometimes a family setup.
The Police are a great example of a bureaucracy because it possesses all of Weber’s characteristics of a bureaucracy. The police are bound by rules that they have to follow like justified killings. If a policeman/woman was to feel threatened in any way physically by a person, they have the right to defend themselves with their weapons even if it ends in death for the other person. However, the rule is not one taken lightly and police have to have very good reasoning. These types of rules also relates to having written regulations because that is a lot of times discussed over with police as they enter the job. Police have to have special qualifications in order to be a police officer like age, being able to pass the fitness training, and an extensively clean background because not just anyone can become a police officer. There is definitely a 385hierarchical setup with a police officer being at the bottom with the superintendent being first, then the first deputy superintendent, the chief, captain, commander, deputy chief, lieutenant, sergeant, filed training officer, then the police officers who are detectives and lastly the police officer. The final characteristic, the police meet in determining it to be a bureaucratic entity is the idea that they don’t own the aspects or products of their job. Police officers are allowed to use a gun when they are on duty that is also registered to them but it is not necessarily theirs. If they were to get dismissed from the force, they would have to return the gun and their badge. Many aspects of being a police are almost obvious that it is a bureaucratic entity but other non-institutions are another as well. Our families can turn into a bureaucratic society.
Families can be considered a bureaucratic entity as well because it too has some hierarchy depending on culture and tradition, it has certain rules that bound people in the family although majority is not written and in some families there are specific tasks that are performed. In families that are extremely traditional, there is a hierarchy. Usually the father figure is the head of the household with the mother figure being next, then aunts or uncles, cousins, and the children are last. Each one of these hierarchies can and sometimes do possess specific tasks. The father is seen as the one who works to bring in the income for the family, the mother is the care-giver of the children, the aunts or uncles are sometimes seen as the “extra” help when necessary, and the children are the “students” of their parent “teachers” who are to go to school and do their designated chores. This type of entity is not as bureaucratic as that of the police but because it still possesses many of a bureaucracy’s characteristics, Weber would view it as one.
The Police are a great example of a bureaucracy because it possesses all of Weber’s characteristics of a bureaucracy. The police are bound by rules that they have to follow like justified killings. If a policeman/woman was to feel threatened in any way physically by a person, they have the right to defend themselves with their weapons even if it ends in death for the other person. However, the rule is not one taken lightly and police have to have very good reasoning. These types of rules also relates to having written regulations because that is a lot of times discussed over with police as they enter the job. Police have to have special qualifications in order to be a police officer like age, being able to pass the fitness training, and an extensively clean background because not just anyone can become a police officer. There is definitely a 385hierarchical setup with a police officer being at the bottom with the superintendent being first, then the first deputy superintendent, the chief, captain, commander, deputy chief, lieutenant, sergeant, filed training officer, then the police officers who are detectives and lastly the police officer. The final characteristic, the police meet in determining it to be a bureaucratic entity is the idea that they don’t own the aspects or products of their job. Police officers are allowed to use a gun when they are on duty that is also registered to them but it is not necessarily theirs. If they were to get dismissed from the force, they would have to return the gun and their badge. Many aspects of being a police are almost obvious that it is a bureaucratic entity but other non-institutions are another as well. Our families can turn into a bureaucratic society.
Families can be considered a bureaucratic entity as well because it too has some hierarchy depending on culture and tradition, it has certain rules that bound people in the family although majority is not written and in some families there are specific tasks that are performed. In families that are extremely traditional, there is a hierarchy. Usually the father figure is the head of the household with the mother figure being next, then aunts or uncles, cousins, and the children are last. Each one of these hierarchies can and sometimes do possess specific tasks. The father is seen as the one who works to bring in the income for the family, the mother is the care-giver of the children, the aunts or uncles are sometimes seen as the “extra” help when necessary, and the children are the “students” of their parent “teachers” who are to go to school and do their designated chores. This type of entity is not as bureaucratic as that of the police but because it still possesses many of a bureaucracy’s characteristics, Weber would view it as one.