The day-to-day bureaucratic life in Austria

Research project P 14260 The day-to-day bureaucratic life in Austria Roland INNERHOFER 06.03.2000 This research project deals with the bureaucratic culture throughout the 20th century Starting point for this study are civil servants and citizens, the creators of bureaucratic culture in offices, bureaucratic channels, everyday life and leisure time. Objective of this research are concepts and myths, logings and the various historical conditions and ideologies from which these concepts and myths evolved. By the analysis of various views of reality inside and outside of bureaucracy, details in the nature of bureaucratic culture become visible. Various discourses will be examined to guarantee a differentiated analysis of bureaucracy as an internalized and diversified way of living and working. Sources that manifest prejudices and cliches towards bureaucracy are current media contributions, jokes, caricatures and programs of political parties. These beliefs will be formulated into hypothesis of the perception of bureaucratic culture, and traced in literary texts of the 20th century. In this context, the literary discource cannot be regarded as neutral or objective, but as part of the b. culture; it doesn`t only spread ideals and aversion, problems and dreams, but also transforms, installs and stage-manages them. Through the analysis of the discourses that concern the day-to-day bureaucratic life, one can identify affinities of Austrian literature and Austrian traditions of bureaucracy to develop a new perspective on Austrian bureaucraty. On the other hand, reflexes and reflections in literature shall be compared with the principles and functions of the bureaucratic systems as documented in various scientific studies. As a result, a panorama of different perceptions of day-to-day bureaucratic life will be presented, and structures and conditions of society as a whole will become visible.

Bureaucracies are shown in literary texts as being governed by internal and informal patterns, which are unpredictable and inscrutable for the ordinary citizen. The bureaucratic culture is made manifest in its aberrations, which are mostly integrated with the economy of power. Bureaucracy is often presented in literary discourses as trying to provide compensation for symbolical deficiencies of the state organization and is seen as a constituent element of the Austrian condition. This study analyzes discussions of bureaucracies and alternative systems in the Austrian literature of the 20th century. The starting point, and the goal, of the questions discussed is the ongoing public discussion which basically aims at fighting symptoms and at cutting back on posts, personnel, costs, and regulations; demands which cannot be met without giving increased consideration to bureaucratic principles such as rationalization, formalization, control, or predictability. Unlike this quantitative view, literary texts focus on bureaucracies as qualitative processes, which effect disciplining, social integration, and state continuity. As they are based on complex traditions and mechanism, de- bureaucratization seems not conceivable without drastic changes in the self-image of citizens and officials likewise. It would mean dispensing with present-day democratic achievements. This study also draws on research results about bureaucratic rules and regularities. The orientation of administrative procedures to economic efficiency and democratic acceptability is addressed only with irony in the literary discourse, the main point of interest being power gains. This focus on aberrations which are used contrastively for a diagnosis of the state of society as a whole makes bureaucracy appear in the literary discourse as a counter-image to its ideal type of characters. As a reaction to unbearable routine and formalization, public agencies have developed a number of informal conventions in dealing with time and mobility. Numerous activities of high- ranking officials as characters aim, despite conventional logic, at making symbolical gains meant to provide compensation for deficiencies of the state, notably so in the first half of the century. Bureaucratic procedures thus become unpredictable and unintelligible for the citizens who are, as individuals, confronted with the associative forces of the administration. Moreover, many real-life issues appear misrepresented and distorted in formalized official procedures. The oft-criticized immobility of bureaucracies, which is represented by authors as a constitutive element in Austria, is accounted for in literature on the following grounds: - Continuity of office secures continuity of the state and thus bridges historical caesurae and periods of social insecurity, which also is in the interest of large social groups. - Patriarchal authorities of the economy often collaborate with the higher ranks of the administration and tend to profit from bureaucratization - Citizens are interested in results, officials are interested in procedures - The administration continually disassociates from the rest of the population and keeps out of affairs outside its sphere of competence - Centralism and strong-shielded hierarchies thwart any reformatory potential of the lower ranks and in the province - The trend toward individualization of the past decades undercuts interest in the state and thus in qualitative change.