Modern bureaucratic theory

Abstract

I begin with three parables. Parable 1: The daily life of the civil servant (anonymous folk tale). The typical civil servant arrives in Ottawa (Washington, Paris, Rome - it doesn't matter) around 9:30 A.M. From 9:30-10:30 hel reads the Globe and Mail (The Washington Post, Le Monde, Corriere della Sera, etc.) . At 10:30 it is time to go for coffee. Around 11:00 A.M., he returns and begins to make a number of phone calls in order to arrange lunch. Lunch begins around 1:00 P.M. with two or three martinis (customs vary elsewhere - check The Economist Guides for details in other countries). The civil servant returns around 3:00 P.M., sits down at his desk and immediately begins to doze off. Around 4:30 P.M., the nagging thought of becoming ensnarled in rush-hour traffic awakens him, he stirs into action and rushes out, pausing only to stuff the unread business and current affairs section of the Globe and Mail into his briefcase, along with his copy of Fine Wines of Canada - a present from a local interest group. By 5:00 P.M. he has arrived home. Parable 2: The servant as master . In Joseph Losey's film The Servant , the central character (played by Edward Fox) hires a manservant (Dirk Bogarde) to cook, clean, and generally take care of his needs. The servant is highly competent and slowly begins to make himself indispensable.

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