Definition

1. Noun:
   • A system of government or administration characterized by rigid hierarchy, complex rules, and impersonal procedures: It refers to an organizational structure, especially in government, where decisions are made by state officials (bureaucrats) rather than elected representatives, often following fixed official duties and strict rules.
   • The body of nonelective government officials and administrative staff: It can also refer to the collective group of people who work in such an administrative system.
   • Excessive adherence to administrative rules and formalities, resulting in delay or inaction: This meaning emphasizes the negative aspect where complex, rigid procedures hinder efficiency and effectiveness.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The new law was delayed by the immense government bureaucracy. (The complex administrative system caused the delay.)
  • She works in the state bureaucracy, processing applications. (She is an official within the administrative system.)
  • We had to navigate a lot of bureaucracy just to get a simple permit. (We faced many complex, time-consuming official procedures.)

Advanced Usage

• "The bureaucracy": Often used with the definite article to refer specifically to the administrative system of a particular government or large organization as a whole.
  • The proposal was lost somewhere in the federal bureaucracy.
• "Bureaucratic inertia": A phrase describing the tendency of a bureaucracy to continue its processes and resist change, even when change is needed.
  • Bureaucratic inertia prevented the adoption of the new, more efficient software.

Variants and Related Words

• Bureaucrat (n): An official in a bureaucracy, especially one who follows administrative routine rigidly.
  • The bureaucrat insisted on seeing the form in triplicate.
• Bureaucratic (adj): Relating to a bureaucracy or bureaucrats; characterized by complex rules and procedures.
  • The process was slow and bureaucratic.
• Bureaucratize (v): To govern or administer by or as if by a bureaucracy; to make bureaucratic.
  • They sought to bureaucratize the charity's operations.

Synonyms

• Administration: The process or activity of running an organization or government.
• Red tape: Excessive bureaucracy or adherence to official rules and formalities, causing delay.
• Officialdom: The officials in an organization or government, considered as a group.

Related Phrases

• Cut through the bureaucracy: To find a way to avoid complex official procedures to get something done quickly.
  • We need someone with connections to cut through the bureaucracy.
• A tangled/web of bureaucracy: Describes an extremely complex and confusing administrative system.
  • The project was ensnared in a tangled web of bureaucracy.

Noun

1. any organization in which action is obstructed by insistence on unnecessary procedures and red tape
2. a government that is administered primarily by bureaus that are staffed with nonelective officials
3. nonelective government officials