Bureaucracy

noun

/bjʊəˈrɒk.rə.si/

A system of administration characterised by hierarchical authority, division of labour, formal rules and procedures, and salaried officials, designed to manage large-scale organisational tasks in a routine and predictable manner.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

A responsive bureaucracy, insulated from political patronage yet accountable to elected authority, remains the steel frame on which the delivery of welfare schemes and the rule of law ultimately rest.

Synonyms

administrationofficialdomcivil servicethe establishmentofficialismred tape

Antonyms

adhocracyanarchyself-governancederegulation

🌱 Word Family

bureaucracy (n), bureaucrat (n), bureaucratic (adj), bureaucratise (v), bureaucratisation (n)

🔡 Root

French bureau = desk/office (from cloth covering desks) + Greek -kratia = rule/power; entered English 1810s

📜 Etymology

From French bureaucratie, from bureau ("desk, office"), originally "baize" (the cloth covering writing desks), from Old French burel ("dark brown cloth") + Greek -kratia ("rule, power"); first used in English in the 1810s.

🧠 Memory Hook

Picture a "BUREAU" (a desk) ruling everything: bureau + -cracy ("rule") = rule from behind a desk, an office staffed by paper-pushing officials.

📝 Seen in UPSC Question Papers

Mains 2022 · GS4 · 10 marks — Ethics in Public Administration
Mains 2019 · GS4 · 20 marks — Ethics in Public Administration
Mains 2016 · GS4 · 10 marks — Administrative Ethics / Weber

Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Bureaucracy” — proof this word earns its place on your list.

🧭 Ethics & Integrity 📖 Seen in: Ethics in Public Administration — Prob...

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