Social Groups: Modern Bureaucracies and Term Paper

The Catholic Church, in other words, exists for many members on both a primary and secondary mode of membership and association. "Primary groups tend to be informal in nature and dominate the structures of traditional societies. Often organized around kinship ties, these groups regulate the activities of their members through informal norms and folkways of the culture. Secondary organizations are much more formal in structure and are usually coordinated through bureaucracy" (Elwell, 2008). The secondary organization of the Catholic Church is quite formal, organized, and bureaucratic in structure, but the informal social rules of the neighborhood church -- how much participation is demanded at the church bake sale, for example, is quite informal and based upon social and kinship ties. A parallel could be drawn with the American Heart Association, another organization I am a member of. The American Heart Association is a nonprofit charity, led by all of the hierarchy of administration of a nonprofit Weberian bureaucracy, including clear chains of authority from the CEO downward, impersonality of rules, written rules of conduct as to how employees and the organization can legally operate, employment and promotion based on achievement, specialized division of labor with career training and promotion, and efficiency (Elwell, 2008).

But informally, doing volunteer work, people often do multiple jobs, based not in descriptions but in availability and simply as to what needs to be done at any point in time. Promotion may be based on who seems most committed or has had a family member affected by the illness rather than upon experience or passing a test, and people volunteering for a walk-a-thon are not 'professionals.' This twofold structure of professionalism and voluntary association for enrichment or pleasure is also true of the International Association of Administrative Professionals and American Bowling Congress. I joined the first organization to make professional and personal contacts in my field, and the second for leisure, and while my membership and role may not be functional, rule-governed, or defined, the leadership of these organizations is bureaucratic.

Bureaucracies can be frustrating and difficult to navigate, one reason why I do not seek higher-level membership in these organizations. Still, I am glad for their existence because of the opportunities bureaucratic organizations have given me to enjoy the social, spiritual, and professional fulfillment provided by these groups. Without the efficiency provided by bureaucracies, and the impersonal rules of fairness that enable these organizations to function so they can cater to the needs of people all over the nation or all over the world, my life would be much poorer. Without bureaucracies I would ultimately much less connected to a larger social world of interests, even if my personal involvement in these sprawling organizations may be limited to the local and parochial.

Works Cited

Elwell, Frank. (2008). "Universal Structures of Societies." Harris: Social Materialism. Retrieved 15 Feb 2008 at http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Harris/SocioMat/infra.htm

Rollag, Keith. "Bureaucracy (Weber)." Organizational Theory. Babson College. Retrieved 15 Feb 2008 at http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/encyclop/bureaucracy.html