USEFUL NOTES IN THESIS

Max Weber 1958

Bureaucracy
He coined the the methaphor “iron cage”
popular among critics of societal rationalization and bureaucratization
stating that bureaucracy is inflexible and stifling

Bozeman 1993
organizational red tape is a specific dysfunction of bureaucracy; it describes the ‘rules, regulation and
procedures’ that remain in force and entail a compliance burden for the organization but has no efficacy
for the rules. P283
it is ineffective and causes delay and inefficiency

Dehart-David

Green Tape: A Theory of Effective

Organizational Rules

Red tape is an important topic for public administration scholars and practitioners alike, some scholars
suggest that additional attention be paid to crafting and implementing effective rules (Goodsell 2000).
Such an endeavor is timely given that one strategy of government reform is to reduce internal public
sector rules, based on the assumption that rules inhibit creativity and flexibility

these knowledge gaps by identifying a theory of effective organizational rules—referred to here as

green tape—based on a wider range of hierarchical perspectives. Effective rules are labeled green tape
to contrast with red tape: whereas red tape pertains to organizational pathology, green tape is
envisioned as part of normal bureaucracy. With this ‘‘stop-go’’ distinction in mind, green tape is
delineated by five attributes: (1) Written requirements, (2) with valid means-ends relationships, which
(3) employ optimal control, (4) are consistently applied, and have (5) purposes understood by
stakeholders. With the combined presence of all attributes anticipated to increase the probability of
rule effectiveness.

The five theoretical attributes of green tape seek to achieve values associated with normally functioning
bureaucracy: accountability and legitimate authority (promoted by written rules), the wise use of public
resources (advanced by valid relationships between rule means and ends), managerial efficiency
(facilitated by optimal control), fairness in the distribution of public resources (assisted by consistent
rule application), and transparency (furthered by stakeholder understanding of rule purposes). These
ends are sought by the design and implementation of rules that achieve technically proficiency as well
as stakeholder acceptability.

Scholars have focused on ‘‘rules as a problem to be solved rather than an indispensable feature of
democrat governance.’’ His critique ends with a plea for researchers to figure out how to craft better
bureaucratic rules. This article responds to Goodsell’s appeal by proposing a theory of green tape or
effective rules. The theory identifies five attributes of a rule expected to increase both its technical
capacity and acceptability to stakeholders