Un­der­stan­ding, shaping, and trans­forming bu­reau­cra­cy

Bu­reau­cra­cy plays a central role in modern so­cie­ties. It struc­tures go­vernmen­tal action, or­ga­ni­zes ad­mi­nis­tra­ti­ve pro­ces­ses, re­gu­la­tes eco­no­mic ac­tivi­ties, and, not least, shapes the aca­de­mic system. It also pres­ents itself as highly am­bi­va­lent: on the one hand, it gua­ran­tees legal cer­tain­ty, trans­pa­ren­cy, and re­lia­bi­li­ty; on the other, it is as­so­cia­ted with over­re­gu­la­ti­on, in­fle­xi­bi­li­ty, and is often seen as a barrier to in­no­va­ti­on.

How can bu­reau­cra­tic pro­ces­ses be un­ders­tood, cri­ti­cal­ly ex­ami­ned, im­pro­ved, or trans­for­med across dif­fe­rent con­texts?

Aca­de­mic en­ga­ge­ment with this topic re­qui­res an in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry ap­proach that com­bi­nes his­to­ri­cal, so­cio­lo­gi­cal, eco­no­mic, legal, po­li­ti­cal, tech­no­lo­gi­cal, and psy­cho­lo­gi­cal per­spec­tives. Po­ten­ti­al ques­ti­ons may explore the his­to­ri­cal de­ve­lop­ment logics of bu­reau­cra­cy, its social and eco­no­mic effects, its role in en­su­ring le­gi­ti­ma­cy and trans­pa­ren­cy, its in­flu­ence on the aca­de­mic system, or the chal­len­ges of digital ad­mi­nis­tra­ti­on.

Sub­mit­ted ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons will be re­view­ed an­ony­mously; pre­vious aca­de­mic achie­ve­ments will not be con­si­de­red. The Foun­da­ti­on eva­lua­tes ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons based on their in­no­va­ti­ve strength, ori­gi­na­li­ty, trans­di­sci­pli­na­ri­ty, so­cie­tal re­le­van­ce, po­ten­ti­al for pos­si­ble im­ple­men­ta­ti­ons, and for further de­ve­lop­ment.