2024-05-06 20:40:05 +00:00
|
|
|
|
---
|
2024-10-30 17:34:11 +00:00
|
|
|
|
date: 2022-05-07
|
2024-05-06 20:40:05 +00:00
|
|
|
|
id: ed6d0fa4-364d-4408-b139-b81542ff5f15
|
|
|
|
|
|
title: Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy[^1] states that in any bureaucratic
|
|
|
|
|
|
organization there will be two kinds of people":
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the
|
|
|
|
|
|
> organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an
|
|
|
|
|
|
> educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians
|
|
|
|
|
|
> and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors
|
|
|
|
|
|
> in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.
|
|
|
|
|
|
>
|
|
|
|
|
|
> Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
> Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many
|
|
|
|
|
|
> professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the
|
|
|
|
|
|
> NASA headquarters staff, etc. –[Jerry
|
|
|
|
|
|
> Pournelle](20220507131154-jerry_pournelle)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and
|
|
|
|
|
|
keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control
|
|
|
|
|
|
promotions within the organization.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# Footnotes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[^1]: <https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html>
|
