Discuss three components of a bureaucracy according to Max Weber. What did Weber mean by the term ideal type?
What will be an ideal response?
Answers will vary but should include three of the following components: (1) positions within the organization have official functions and are bound by a set of rules; (2) each office has a sphere of competence and the authority to handle specific tasks in that sphere; (3) positions exist in a vertical hierarchy; (4) positions have technical requirements, and those who hold those offices must undergo the needed training; (5) those who occupy positions do not own the equipment needed for the job, as it is provided by the company; (6) those who occupy particular offices--CEOs, for example--do not get to keep them when they leave, as they remain part of the organization; (7) and everything having any formal importance is documented in writing. An ideal type is a pure type of a category within a conceptual system. A pure example of an ideal type is not expected to be found in the real world, but typologies with such clearly defined categories help simplify understanding of the real world.
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A) claims-making B) policy-making C) public reaction D) implementation
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a. All the people who receive unemployment benefits. b. All of the people who are unemployed. c. All of the people who are unemployed plus discouraged workers. d. All of the people who register for work at the state employment office. e. All of the people who have stopped looking for work because they believe they cannot find it.
Which theoretical area focuses on the recent and widespread changes that transformed almost everything about the modern world throughout the last half century?
a. Theories of Consumption b. Theories of Globalization c. Theories of Science, Technology, and Society d. Postmodern Social Theory
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