Bureaucracy is often used as short-hand for the dysfunctions of organizations. Its reform or abolition is continually demanded or promised. This book highlights the positive attributes of bureaucracy and shows why bureaucratic organization should be valued, both by those engaged in business and commerce, and those responsible for running states and delivering public services.

SECTION 1: THE POLITICS OF BUREAUCRACY ; 1. The Bureau as Unit of Governance ; 2. Bureaucracy and Liberty: State, Authority, and Freedom ; 3. Bureaucracy and the Controversy Between Liberal Interventionism and Non-Interventionism ; SECTION 2: THE END OF BUREAUCRACY? ; 4. Bureaucracy at Work: Misunderstandings and Mixed Blessings ; 5. Beyond the Iron Cage? Bureaucracy and Democracy in the Knowledge Economy and Society ; 6. Bureaucracy and Beyond: Managers and Leaders in the 'Post-Bureaucratic' Organization ; SECTION 3: BUREAUCRACY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT ; 7. A Service to the Public: The Containment of Ethical and Moral Conflicts by Public Bureaucracies ; 8. Bending Bureaucracy: Leadership and Multi-Level Governance ; 9. Performing for the Public: Doubt, Desire, and the Evaluation of Public Services ; 10. What is Best 'Value'? Bureaurcarcy, Virtualism, and Local Governance ; SECTION 4: BUREAUCRACY AND CIVIL SOCIETY ; 11. Gender Equality: A Bureaucratic Enterprise? ; 12. Bureaucracy, Open Access, and Social Pluralism: Returning the Common to the Goose ; 13. The Popularity of Bureaucracy: Involvement in Voluntary Associations

Argues for the importance of bureaucracy in organizations Critiques the characterization of bureaucracy often employed in Management, Organization, Political, and Social Theory Includes contributions from leading scholars in a range of disciplines

Paul du Gay is Professor of Sociology and Organization Studies, and Co-Director of the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance, in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University. His research is located in the sociology of organizational life and cultural studies. His recent publications include, In Praise of Bureaucracy (Sage, 2000) and Cultural Economy (ed. with M. Pryke, 2002). Culture, Person and Organization: Essays in Cultural Economy will be published by Sage in 2005.

Argues for the importance of bureaucracy in organizations Critiques the characterization of bureaucracy often employed in Management, Organization, Political, and Social Theory Includes contributions from leading scholars in a range of disciplines