Showing papers on "Ideal type published in 2002"

The Hidden History of Social Citizenship

Abstract: Many accounts claim that social citizenship has declined during the last 20 years in Britain under the Conservative and New Labour Governments. However, the vague definition of social citizenship as given by T. H. Marshall means that it is difficult to see exactly which concepts best characterise social citizenship, let alone which indices measure the extent of their change over time. Some commentators imply an 'ideal type' model of change from a national statist model of post-war citizenship based on rights and equality to a hollowed-out, civil society model based on duties and inclusion. While there is some validity in these views, they do not represent the whole picture. An alternative account, 'the hidden history of social citizenship', points to a more limited, conservative notion of citizenship. It follows that recent trends do not signal such a sharp decline of Marshallian social citizenship as is conventionally assumed.

Sociology that Really Matters: European Academy of Sociology, First Annual Lecture, 26 October 2001, Swedish Cultural Center

Abstract: The diversity of sociology can be captured with the help of four ideal types. First is cameral or informative sociology: that which produces data and analyses oriented towards decision-makers. Second is critical sociology, which identifies the defects of society and proposes remedies for them. Third is sociology which aims to arouse emotions by describing social phenomena in a vivid fashion: it can be characterized as expressive. A fourth type, the cognitive type, sees the explanation of puzzling social phenomena as its objective. The four orientations characterize contemporary as well as classical sociology but are not equally valuable. Tocqueville, Weber, or Durkheim illustrate the fourth type, but various factors today have caused the other three to expand at its expense. As a consequence of this diversity within sociology and the trend away from the cognitive type, scepticism about the discipline has grown in recent years

Weber on Education and its Administration Prospects for Leadership in a Rationalized World

Abstract: Weber’s contribution of the bureaucratic ideal type to administrative theory, and his delineation of the three authority types are well known. However, these constructs are often not presented accurately as ideal-typical forms devised to study social institutions in theirhistorical development as Weber intended. More importantly, for education, his subjective and valuational approach to social action, necessary to his interpretive social analysis, is neglected. This article traces Weber’s discussion of education through a number of his texts notusually referenced in educational administration, along with the better known Economy and Society. Education, viewed from this broader perspective in Weber’s writings, is seen to beinextricably interconnected with the development of religious, economic and political institutions, most importantly as it contributes to the problem of the ‘iron cage’ of rationalization, or the bureaucratization, of modern society. The possibilities for leadership in education in a rat...

Social Theory, the Civic Imagination and Documentary Film: A Past-modern Critique of the `Bloody Bosnia' Season's the Roots of War

Abstract: The major part of this article is taken up with an analysis of the television documentary The Roots of War, which played a pivotal role in the Channel 4 `Bloody Bosnia' season, screened in the summer of 1993. The analysis involves a critique of the programme's mode of argumentation in which a single, ostensibly authoritative account is given of deep-rooted ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia while failing to provide adequate substantiation and evidence. This fairly typical `serious' documentary is contrasted unfavourably with an ideal type of critical social theory. The latter is self-reflexive about its modes of reasoning, aware of multiple perspectives and ontological complexity, and scrupulous about its use of evidence and explanatory procedure (past-modern). The article leads up to the detailed critique of The Roots of War through prior reference to recent reflections on the quality of the public sphere and citizens' faculties of reasoning, empathy and moral deliberation in relation to distant an...

Institutional Economics and the Problem of Historical Specificity

Abstract: The problem of historical specificity starts from the supposition that different socio-economic phenomena require theories that are in some respects different from each other An adequate theory of, say) the feudal system will differ from an adequate theory of, (say) capitalism Any common aspects of these theories will reflect common features of the real systems involved Accordingly, some powerful theories will probe beneath superficial differences and generalise upon some common elements or structures Nevertheless, variances between different systems could be so important that the theories and concepts used to analyse them must also be substantially different With diverse, complex phenomena, there are limits to explanatory unification A fundamentally different reality may require a different theory

The ideal minister of health

Abstract: Should be performed and managed on stewardship, loyalty, authority, and efficiency In his effort to escape from the individualising and particularising approach of German historicism,1 Max Weber developed a key conceptual tool, the notion of the ideal type . An ideal type is an analytical construct that serves the investigator as a measuring rod to ascertain similarities as well as deviations in concrete cases. What are the similarities and deviations from “ideal type of health minister” among ministers of health around the globe? And what would be an ideal minister of health in the 21st century? Perhaps the minister should be validated against the following objectives: stewardship, loyalty, authority, efficiency . The question is to whom the “ideal” minister of health should direct his stewardship ? “Stewardship is about vision, intelligence, and influence” is probably the most strategic sentence of the WHO World Health Report 2000.2 If the minister of health would like to act as a …

Bureaucracy: Weber's or Hammurabi's? Ideal or Ancient?

Abstract: This article examines the administrative practices of the Babylonian Empire during the Hammurabi era between 1792 and 1750 B.C. The main thesis is that public administration in the First Babylonian Dynasty had many of the characteristics that Max Weber (1946/1987) identifies for the "ideal type" of modern bureaucracy. The article uses transcripts, some going back to 3800 years ago from the Hammurabi administration and legal documents of that era to demonstrate that Weber's type is more ancient than ideal. The article also draws some attention to similarities between Weber's accountability and that of Hammurabi. [M]en (sic) in the rest of the world were still communicating by grunt and groan, still seeking food with clubs and finding shelter in caves. But in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, the invention of irrigation canals had been only the beginning. Men (sic) there spoke a complex and logically constructed language. They had devised cuneiform writing, a simple and practical system for putting down facts and ideas in picture form. They invented the wagon wheel, the plow, and the sailboat. They used calendars, levers, pulleys, measuring instruments, surveying tools, and even the potter's wheel. They designed their ziggurats and other buildings according to sound architectural principles ... They had a science of medicine and manufactured drugs. Johnson and Kamiller (1970:151-2) INTRODUCTION The conceptual foundations of public administration are often associated with the thought of John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and early Greek philosophers including Socrates and Aristotle. Public administration writings often ignore the administration experiences of ancient civilizations (Farazmand, 1996). The history of Sumeria, Babylon, and Persia reveals thousands of years of administrative experience and perfection (Kramer, 1959). It is important to bring these experiences closer to the literature on administration. Such is the intent of this article. In the early part of the past century, Max Weber (1946/1987) defined an ideal type of bureaucratic organization which is often criticized for either excessive idealism of excessive rationalism. Despite these criticisms, the ideal type remains as a foundation for bureaucratic organization. Weber's ideal type ignores the experiences of some ancient civilizations that shared many characteristics with his ideal type. One could blame Weber's failure to incorporate eastern civilization's experiences on a western bias or one could argue that much of what we know about ancient eastern civilization is a result of excavations that occurred decades after Weber's theory. Neither of these two arguments is intended in this article which rather aims at making a minor modification to the history of administration by bringing the experiences of one ancient eastern civilization closer to Weber's theory-closer to modern organization theory. This article examines the administrative policies of the Babylonian Empire during the Hammurabi era between 1792 and 1740 B.C. The main thesis is that public administration in the First Babylonian Dynasty under the rule of Hammurabi had many of the characteristics of Weber's ideal type bureaucracy. In other words, the Hammurabi administration achieved 3800 years ago what Weber describes as a modern bureaucratic phenomenon. First, the article provides a background of the geographic and time contexts of Mesopotamia and the First Babylonian Dynasty. second, it introduces Hammurabi and the socioeconomic, political, and judicial circumstances of his era. Then the article reviews administrative practices during Hammurabi's rule in the framework of Weber's ideal type. Finally, this study conducts a comparison between Weber's "ideal type" and Hammurabi administrative practices. This study is based on four primary sources of information. The first one includes many of the writings on Hammurabi and his achievements. …

Sociology, typology and extension: New issues

Abstract: Within our field of study we tried (1991) to introduce the concept of ideal type by Max Weber to understand the diversity of extension organizations in the history of this subject. Later we revised our work, "rethinking" ideal types of extension systems (1993) and redefining (broadening) our typology (1996). In the latter we pointed out that there was an ideal type which we had not considered: the 'Local' one, i.e., extension without external intervention. With this new type, our typology has grown from the three items of 1991 to the five ideal types of extension practice today: Local, Industrial, Corporative, Commercial and Ecosocial. Before presenting our typology, we analyse, in the first part of this article, the importance and utility of typologies in sociology. The second part deals with the concept of ideal type and its implications such as the idea that appears in the work of Max Weber. Many lines have been written about this weberian concept, but few of them are based on the original writings of the author. We believe that recovery of classical works remains an important task in our discipline and this is the reason to re-read the books in which Weber defined in a partial -and somewhat disconnected- way the concept of ideal type.