Bureaucratic Power

Abstract

The bureaucratic structure of party organisation, as I pointed out in Chapter 1, is a recurring theme in the literature on party organisation. However, as I have also argued, not enough attention is paid to the importance of this as a source of power that lies beyond the immediate grasp of individuals. Anyone who finds themselves involved in an organisation, especially a large one, could reflect on how much of their time is spent doing paperwork, following procedures or protocols, attending formal meetings and so on. The bureaucracy, consisting in the administrative procedures and processes of an organisation, its hierarchy and machinery seems to have a momentum and indeed a power all of its own, but it is one which is much more nebulous and harder to grasp than those I have discussed so far because it cannot be attributed to one particular individual or, for that matter, a group.