Bürokratieforschung

“So why look at bureaucracy? The fact that it is as much part of modern life as the modern amenities it produces (such as electricity, gas, railways and social security, to name a few) means that an understanding of the distinctive issues bureaucracy poses is as relevant and important as it ever was in the era of Kafka and Weber, irrespective of whether we feel they got it right or wrong. We have not invented a better way of organizing public affairs. For all the talk of ‘post-modern’ forms of organization, where hierarchies and other formalities dissolve under constant negotiation between near-equal partners, these are generally at best straws in the wind or possibly only minor exceptions that prove the durability of bureaucratic models” (

Jenkins/Page 2004: XIII

).