What is bureaucracy? Are people right to see it as synonymous with red-tape, feather-bedding and inefficiency? Can it be controlled by politicians, or made more responsive to citizens? Is it only confined to the public sector, or is it pervasive throughout all modern organizations?

These are only some of the questions addressed in David Beetham's concise and wide-ranging study. This second edition provides a clear guide through the disciplines of economics, sociology and political science, and through competing social theories, including structural, cultural and rational choice approaches. It also offers its own synthesis which goes beyond them.

The second edition has been revised and updated in the light of recent academic and political developments. For anyone who wants a lucid introduction to the meaning and significance of bureaucracy, and its relation to democracy, this book is essential reading.