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Why is this the case and what are the implications for liberal democracy? The rise of bureaucracy in Western States over the last century has been somewhat dramatic, for instance since the early nineteenth century the level of bureaucrats in Britain has risen from 20,000 to an estimated 500,000 today (Meny and Knapp 1998, p. 246). There have been many criticisms of state administration or bureaucracy the most important of them being that bureaucracy is "undemocratic" (Held 2002, p 163).
With this in mind it is hard to perceive that implications of bureaucracy on liberal democracy can be anything but damaging.
However it has also been recognised that without bureaucracy there would be no democracy (Hague and Harrop 2001, p. 254). So why have most western states become largely bureaucratic? And what are the implications for liberal democracy?. Before we consider the implications bureaucracy has had on liberal democracy it is important to grasp what each term means. Bureaucracy according to Rod Hague and Martin Harrop means literally "rule by officials" (Hague and Harrop 2001, p. 254).
The bureaucracy is often referred to as "the state's engine room"(Hague and Harrop 2001, 254) It consists of permanently salaried officials employed by the state to advise on, and carry out, the policies of the political executive.
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Liberal Democracy is a system of representative government by majority rule. It lays great respect towards opposition which is expressed in regular free and competitive elections. (Held 2002, p. 72) Liberal democracy has "profound contrasts" to classical democracy. The most obvious contrast is that liberal democracies extend citizenship to the vast majority of the adult population.
(Gill 2003, p. 4).
Unlike classical democracy liberal democracy is governments of law rather than men. Liberal democracy is built on the liberal philosophy in which the role of the state is restricted by the constitution. The liberal aspect of Liberal democracy derives from "pre democratic political ideology"(Hague and Harrop 2001, p. 18) liberalism written in the seventeenth century by liberal theorist John Locke. It suggests that there should be as much individual freedom in any society as is compatible with the freedom of others (Held 2002, p. 78).
Previously most European state's where absolutist (meaning central governed) but this became increasingly impossible with the increase and diversity of society and the complexity that it brought to the modern state (Held 2002, p78). A key explanation as to why Western States are now largely bureaucratic lies with the rise of industrialisation in the nineteenth century. (Dunleavy and O'leary 1987, 170) Weber felt that as economical and political life became more complicated so the role of bureaucratic administration was inevitable (Held 2002, 166).
Max Weber was the leading scholar for defining bureaucracy for modern government. Weber conceived of bureaucracy as a structured hierarchy in which salaried officials reached rational decisions by applying explicit rules to the facts before them (Hague and Harrop 2001, p. 254). Democratic elite theorist regard Weber's definition of bureaucracy as "an organization distinguished by a clear body of internal rules and a very developed specialization of roles" (Dunleavy and O'leary 1987, p. 170)
The first point to note is that Bureaucrats are un-elected (Hague and Harrop 2001, p 254). This has grave implications for Liberal democracy as due to the power that the highest civil servants have in deciding policy it makes bureaucrats undemocratic. The reason for this is that as they are not "accountable to the mass of the population affected by their decisions" (Held 2002, p162). This implication is perhaps the most severe because the doctrine of Liberal Democracy is of representation by an elected official who then makes policy decisions that the majority of the population.
Another implication of Bureaucracy on liberal democracy is that due to the highest echelons of state administration having such an influence on policy and because they have job security they can often overpower the elected official. "They (the bureaucracy) outstay, outnumber and invariably outmanoeuvre the elected and less intellectually endowed political elite, should the latter even contemplate acting against the 'powers that be'" (Dunleavy and O'leary 1987, p 174). This obviously has the unfortunate implications for liberal democracy as it is evidence that bureaucrats are in the position to manipulate elected officials.
Bureaucracy for modern government. (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/hague-and-harrop-11847-new-essay
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