7) Bureacracy and Ethics Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is Max Weber’s defintion of bureacracy?
A system of administration based on rules, hierachy, legal authority, and specialised roles aimed at rational and efficient decision-making.
What are the key features of Weber’s ideal type of bureacracy?
- Formal rules
- Hierachal structure
- Written documentation
- Merit based selection
- Full time commitment to the role
- Technical expertise
Why did Weber view bureacracy as ethical?
It creates equality though impartial rule following and protects against arbitrary power (e.g. favouritism)
What does “sine ira et studio” mean in bureaucratic ethics?
“Without anger or bias” — ideal bureaucrats should apply rules neutrally, unaffected by emotion or personal preference.
What are the ethical benefits of bureaucracy?
Promotes fairness and predictability
Removes emotional bias
Protects individuals from authoritarianism
Supports democratic accountability
What are ethical criticisms of bureaucracy?
Suppresses empathy and individuality
Encourages rule-following over moral thinking
Leads to depersonalisation of people
Can normalise harmful behaviour
How does bureacracy contirbute to moral distancing?
Individuals relate to rules and procedures, not people. This reduces ethical awareness of others as humans.
What does Merton (1940) say about rules in bureaucracies?
Rules can become ends in themselves, detaching decisions from their original moral purpose — ethical thinking becomes technical compliance.
How does Bauman relate bureaucracy to modern wrongdoing?
Bureaucracy can make evil banal by encouraging people to “just follow orders” without reflecting on the moral consequences.
How does Levinas critique bureaucratic systems?
Bureaucracies erase the face of the Other — people become numbers or roles, making ethical encounters and care impossible.
How does Derrida’s concept of “undecidability” apply to bureaucracy?
Bureaucracy resists ethical reflection by demanding fast, rational, rule-bound choices — it discourages moral hesitation or accountability.
What is the “madness of rationality” in bureaucracy?
When rational systems lead to irrational or harmful outcomes because moral thought is excluded — rules override care or context.
Give an example of dehumanising bureaucratic language.
Human capital vs workforce talent
How might virtue ethics critique bureaucracy?
Bureaucracy fails to nurture virtues like empathy, care, or courage — it encourages conformity, apathy, or ruthless ambition.
How might contemporary theories help humanise bureaucracy?
Levinas: Calls for recognition of the Other
Bauman: Reclaims emotional and moral responsiveness
Derrida: Encourages reflection before decision
