William R. Schonfeld (SSPA 4187)

Bureaucracy is the dominant form of organization in modern, industrialized societies. What is a bureaucracy? What is the relationship between democracy and bureaucracy? What role does bureaucracy play in the functioning of a democratic system? Do state bureaucracies hinder or facilitate the performance of a democratic government? In what ways and in what direction does an increasingly bureaucratized society impact and shape the views citizens have about government and democracy? These are some of the questions to be discussed in this research seminar.

Webster’s primary definition of the word seminar is: "a group of advanced students studying under a professor with each doing original research and all exchanging results through reports and discussions." Since this is the first time this seminar is being offered, its structure is rather amorphous; your guidance and input will be sought to reshape and improve this year’s version. My pedagogical philosophy rejects courses that are narrowly construed around a faculty member’s current research interests. In this seminar students are not expected to share any particular theoretical, empirical, or ideological perspective

The first part of the seminar will be devoted to a close reading and discussion of a set of common core readings (indicated by an asterisk). This deviates from the usual graduate course practice of extensive readings for each week, and seeks to focus attention on a few critical texts and their joined arguments. While everyone is to do these common readings so as to permit informed participation in all sessions, each week, beginning April 22^nd, one or two students will be responsible for organizing the discussion. In addition, each member of the seminar is to do concentrated reading and research on either a specific question or a particular empirical context relating bureaucracy to democracy. The latter requirement will be satisfied by (1) preparing a bibliography, (2) a class report to be presented between May 27^th and June 10^th, and (3) a written paper.

By the seventh week of classes, each student should distribute to all members of the seminar a brief statement describing their research project and a basic bibliography of the topic on which s/he will be working.

The purpose of the class report is to inform the other members of the seminar of the general direction which research has taken on the problem/context you are investigating, the basic assumptions which have guided inquiry, and the major areas of contention and debate. Your formal remarks should last no more than about 20 minutes to enable ample discussion. Feel free to pass out not only your bibliography but also an outline of the issues you will discuss.

In the best of worlds, each seminar paper will be published in a professional journal. Papers would follow one of two models. The first possibility is the style of a World Politics review. To get a feel for this model, it is suggested that you glance through World Politics and locate any review articles that appeal to you and read them as a guide for the type of paper you might write. The second possibility requires the characterization and analysis of a theoretical problem upon which divergent perspectives exist. Your paper would describe this context and test the alternatives by drawing on quantitative data.

April 8, 2004: Seminar Overview

April 15 and April 22, 2004: The Basic Idea of Bureaucracy
*Gerth and Mills, From Max Weber, pp. 196-244
Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure, pp. 249-278.
Michel Crozier, The Bureaucratic Phenomenon.
Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society

April 29, 2004: The Basic Idea of Democracy
Robert A. Dahl, On Democracy
Arend Lijphart, Pattterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty Six Countries
Jane J. Mansbridge, Beyond Adversary Democracy
Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

May 6, 2004: Bureaucracy in the Workplace
*Gouldner, Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy.
Ronald Dore, British Factory, Japanese Factory: The Origins of National Diversity in Industrial Relations

May 13, 2004: Government Bureaucracy
*Wilson, Bureaucracy
Anthony Downs, Inside Bureaucracy
Peter Blau and Marshall Meyer, Bureaucracy in Modern Society

May 20: Do Democracies need Governmental Bureaucracy to Perform Well?
*Suleiman, Dismantling Democratic States.

May 27, June 3, and June 10, 2004
Class Reports