重新发现官僚制:西方公共行政理论对官僚制的再思考

Rediscovering Bureaucracy: A Systemic Review of the Classical Bureaucracy in Western Public Administration Theories

现在公共行政理论研究中存在一种普遍的观点,认为韦伯式官僚制已经过时了,或者被更"好"的如网格、协作等管治模式所替代。论文质疑了这一观点,并批判了在评价官僚制中的"非黑即白"的绝对主义和"稻草人"式的虚假批判的逻辑错误,指出把公共行政理论的发展视为简单的从"低"到"高"、从"旧"到"新"的线性过程是片面的,应当从理论和实践两方面考察才能够正确理解官僚制。论文回顾了新公共管理、网格管理和协作治理理论对官僚制的批判和反思,然后从效率、民主和政治—行政二分原则三个角度对它在公共行政的实践进行了深入考察。论文认为,官僚制的核心原则和特征并没有受到根本的挑战,相反,高效率、有作为的官僚制依旧是公共利益的有力保障,甚至在推动非传统的治理模式,如网格管理和协作治理等方面发挥协调、指导作用。

The Weberian bureaucracy has immense implications for Western public administration in both theory and practice, thus making it important and helpful to evaluate its implications in contemporary world when bureaucracy seems outdated and ineffective in defending public interests. Is Webrian bureaucracy outdated in the contemporary world? This paper highlights two common mistakes in critics against bureaucracy: absolutism and 'straw man ',and meanwhile stresses the necessity of accessing bureaucracy from the perspectives of both narrative analysis and administrational practices. It firstly reviews how New Public Management, network management and collaborative governance see bureaucracy,and then make in- depth analysis over its three core features: efficiency,democracy,and administration- politics dichotomy principle. The paper concludes that,the core features of bureaucracy are actually not being fundamentally challenged; on the contrary, effective and strong bureaucracy remains a key in defending public interests,which also plays necessary and positive roles in organizing and coordinating network and collaborative activities in public administration.