bureaucracy
Pronunciation:
/bjʊəˈɹɒkɹəsi//bjʊˈɹɑːkɹəsi/noun
Definitions
Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.
(organizational theory) A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.
Example: At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy.
The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.
Example: The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy. (apocryphal quip)
Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.
Example: The head of the civil service promised to clamp down on bureaucracy.