What are negative aspects of bureaucracy?

Answer 1

The question asks for negative aspects, I have listed 4 in the following comments. Note that there are always exceptions to every generalization, so look at these answers as general observations, which (on rare occasion) may not apply to a specific example.

1. Bureaucracies slow-down the process of getting things done. The bigger the bureaucracy, the more hands an idea or project must go through to get approval. Additionally, any idea or project can be stopped, dead in its tracks, at any person in the bureaucratic process.

2. Often, bureaucracies develop specific political preferences. Since most bureaucracies tend to be liberal, most bureaucracies embrace liberal philosophies, ideas & standards, and are most often populated with people that tend to think liberally. Therefore, liberal ideas and projects are the most likely to be carried all the way through the bureaucratic process, and may, in point of fact, be encouraged and helped along on a faster track, while more conservative ideas are hindered, lost and rejected.

3. Bureaucracies do not actually produce anything, meaning they produce neither product nor service. Therefore, even though bureaucrats receive a pay check, there is nothing being added to the real economy when they are finished. And no person that has succeeded in getting something all the way through a bureaucracy has anything to show for their efforts. In fact, a person working through a bureaucracy often must pay taxes and fees to a high degree within that bureaucracy, meaning the person has financially lost ground in the process. In economies where many bureaucracies and many bureaucrats exist, one usually finds a struggling economy. This is true in governments and in business (again, this is because they are being paid, but do not actually produce anything).

4. Bureaucracies usually see themselves or their bureaucracy as the most important part of the government or business. Therefore, they tend to grow their own organization faster than any other part of the government or business. They are often more highly paid, and less skilled than any other part of government or business.