noun
definition
Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.
definition
(organizational theory) A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.
example
At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy.
definition
The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.
example
The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy. (apocryphal quip)
definition
Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.
example
The head of the civil service promised to clamp down on bureaucracy.