Having shown an exact, real-world example of a personal experience with bureaucracy, it is useful to also take a look at Weber's classic definition of bureaucracy and determine if Weber's definition is applicable in this situation.

Weber's Definition of Bureaucracy

Max Weber is considered by many to be not only one of the major figures in the history of the social sciences, but also the one person whose discussions of bureaucracy are still widely studied, over a century after they were first presented. According to Weber, bureaucracy is a form of public administration that is effective and efficient when it is used as a neutral way to govern, but it becomes ineffective and dangerous when individual interests come into play (Miner).

Keeping Weber's definition of bureaucracy...

First, it is clear that the form of bureaucracy which was put forth as this paper began was certainly the type that had individual interests in it, taking precedence over the type of neutral, group setting that Weber envisioned in his research.
Conclusion

What has been seen in this paper is that the original intent of bureaucracy was not the shady and unfavorable way that bureaucracy exists today; however, there are immediate examples to show that bureaucracy in its most damaged forms is alive and well today.

Bibliography

Courtney, Roger. Strategic Management for Voluntary Nonprofit Organizations. London: Routledge, 2002.

Government Bureaucracy