Log in
Building the Knowledge Base of Nonprofit Management:
A Searchable Database
A Preventive Approach to Bureaucracy: The Dialectical Organization as a Model for Citizen's Advocacy and Ombudsmen
Abstract
Dialectical organizations & citizens' advocacy programs have been
suggested as remedies for inherent problems of bureaucracies.
"Dialectical organization" is the ideal-type opposite of
bureaucracy. Its goals, use of authority, structure, organization,
location, staffing, client relationships, & operating procedures
are antithetical to the bureaucratic form. "Citizens'
advocacy" refers to access, steering, & ombudsman-type
complaint-handling programs, providing third-party advocates for
citizens in order to counter certain dysfunctional aspects of the
modern bureaucratic state. Since citizens' advocacy programs are, in
essence, in a conflict relationship with bureaucracies, they should be
organized on dialectical principles if they are to maintain their
advocacy stance & orientation. The Pa Governor's Branch Office
experiment with such a program provides an empirical
operationalization of the concept & is instructional regarding the
form & content of such organization. 1 Table, 1 Figure, 22
References. AA.
Journal
(October-December 1983)
vol12
no4
pages65-80
Categories
-
Nonprofit Organizations (Theory)
-
Structures and Processes
