Pressures and Defenses in Bureaucratic Roles

Abstract

Line-bureaucrats may be exposed to conflicting pressures from superiors and from clients. In that case they are in need of "defenses" to reduce pressures or alleviate their impact. A societal ideology may serve as individual defense; moreover, the organizational unit as a whole may develop structural mechanisms of defense. Two such mechanisms, "joint defense" and "buffer defense", are discussed. The existence of "buffer defense" makes it possible for bureaucrats to resist both superiors and clients, and act according to independent criteria; the absence of any type of defense may lead to erratic behavior, where the bureaucrat bows to whatever pressure is momentarily strongest.