Max Weber was a German sociologist who had many theories on democracy and its degradation through time. In all fairness, however, Weber had a very pessimistic view of democracy as a whole.
Weber believed that Democracy is not an easy process that makes everyone happy. For amidst the notions of republicanism and liberty, many government forms have sprouted over the years, none of which being perfect of 100% efficient. Weber said that democracy became increasingly about the state, not the people and less concern for the people would be shared by “democratic” governments. For Weber, the idea that the people are in total control of their governments, was nothing but an illusion.
This was because of his beliefs regarding rationalization and bureaucratization. For Weber, these two factors had a direct affect on what we know democracy to be. First of all, rationalization regards the rational control and calculated decision making involved in governments. This rationalization is a result of the expansion of bureaucracies in Western society. The combination of the two create a disenchantment amongst the population since they control politics far too much, leaving little room for the people to have any contribution.
Even more problematic is the prevalence of bureaucracies in companies and governments. Weber believes this is especially troublesome since bureaucracies have no accountability to the people and, therefore, do not act in their interests, which is inherently undemocratic.
Because of all these things, the governments, or states, of a nation act in a legal-rational authority. This means the state is extremely impersonal and only adheres to the rules, not the context of any crime. So for example, if a man has to steal bread to feed his starving family because he is poor, that man is guilty of a crime. Ironically, bureaucracies are so strict that the hypothetical man probably stole the bread because he was not eligible for welfare or some such thing.
As a way to counter all this, Weber praises the Parliamentary structure. This is because they are very open and transparent arenas of political negotiation. They re-insert politics back into the state. This is critical to Weber's perspective since, as discussed, he believed politics had become eroded by rationality.
Weber's largest concern with politics was the notion of competitive elitism. Despite parliamentary systems, it still remained the case, in Weber's mind, that politics was for the elite and the citizenry were still ostracized.
All-in-all, when we look at Weber's theories today, we can certainly recognize their credibility when examining the structure of our society and governments.
