---
date: 2022-05-07
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>