In Praise of Bureaucracy: Weber - Organization - Ethics / Edition 1

by Paul du Gay

Overview

In this provocative new study, Paul du Gay makes a compelling case for the continuing importance of bureaucracy. Taking inspiration from the work of Max Weber, du Gay launches a staunch defence of ‘the bureaucratic ethos' and highlights its continuing relevance to the achievement of social order and good government in liberal democratic societies.

Through a comprehensive engagement with both historical and contemporary critiques of bureaucracy and a careful examination of the policies of organizational change within the public services today, du Gay develops a major reappraisal of the so-called ‘traditional' ethic of office. In doing so he highlights the ways in which many of the key features of bureaucratic conduct that ca

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761955047
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/05/2000
Series:	Management Studies Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.37(d)

About the Author

Paul du Gay is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at The Open University

Table of Contents

Introduction
Bureaucratic Morality
PART ONE: THE RELIGIOUS AND ROMANTIC ORIGINS OF 'BUREAU CRITIQUE'
Alasdair Mac Intyre and the Christian Genealogy of 'Bureau Critique'
Bauman's Bureau
'Modernity', Identity, Ethics
The Anti-Bureaucrats
Contemporary Managerial Discourse and Charismatic Authority
PART TWO: ENTREPRENEURIAL GOVERNANCE AND THE BUREAUCRATIC ETHOS
Office as a Vocation? Entrepreneurial Governance and Bureaucracy-Critique
'Vitalizing' State Bureaux
Some Ethico-Political Consequences of 'Re-Inventing Government'
Separate and Distinct Personae
'Bureaucrats' and 'Politicians'
Conclusion
The Ethos of Office and State Interest

Editorial Reviews

‘Paul du Gay takes the current discourse over managerialism in government to newer, deeper and richer intellectual realms. He deepens our understanding of Weber's theory of bureaucracy, disposes of superficial moral critiques of the concept and shows how the bureaucratic form of organization occupies a distinctively justified place in democratic life' - Charles Goodsell, Virginia Tech

‘This is an important book. Writing with clarity and precision and drawing on a rich array of sources, Paul du Gay dissects the philosophical and managerialist criticisms of bureaucracy and exposes their assumptions and weakness... In Praise of Bureaucracy makes a substantial and very welcome original contribution to social theory, and to the study of management and organizations' - Richard Brown, Univeristy of Durham

‘In this controversial, but compellingly argued book, Paul du Gay contests both the conventional romantic critique of "bureaucracy" and the fashionable New Public Management philosophy espoused by New Labour, which seeks to "entrepreneurialize" the "conservative forces" represented by any commitment to the distinctive ethos of public office' - Stuart Hall, The Open University and Goldsmiths College, Univeristy of London

From the Publisher