bureaucracy

Meaning: Max Weber described the bureaucracy as an ideal type of formal organization built on rationalization, where efficiency and predictability take priority over tradition or personal loyalty. Typical features are a clear hierarchy of offices, a division of labor into specialized roles, written rules and records, impersonal treatment of members and clients, and hiring and promotion based on qualifications. Authority belongs to the office, not the person, which Weber called rational-legal authority. Government agencies, universities, hospitals, and large corporations are common examples.

On the MCAT: A passage describes an organization with strict rules, ranked offices, and standardized procedures, and you identify it as a bureaucracy or link it to Weber's rationalization and the "iron cage" of rules. Related ideas are Ritzer's McDonaldization (efficiency, calculability, predictability, control) and Michels' iron law of oligarchy, in which power tends to concentrate in a few leaders even in organizations meant to be democratic. Questions may contrast strengths (consistency, equal treatment) with weaknesses (red tape, alienation, rigidity).

Common confusion: Bureaucracy is a structural type, not a synonym for government or for inefficiency; private firms are often bureaucratic too. Rational-legal authority rests on rules and offices, unlike traditional authority (custom) or charismatic authority (a leader's personal appeal).