Skip to main content
to bureaucratize

to bureaucratize

1 8.0
To add many official rules and procedures to an organization or system
  • verb
  • /bjʊəˈrɒkrəˌtaɪz/
  • Formal
translation icon : burocratizar
  • The new regulations will bureaucratize the application process, making it more complicated for newcomers.
  • become bureaucratized

Examples

  • However, in recent years, very little new research has been done, and the institution is becoming increasingly bureaucratized.

    Academic text (1996)
  • In the late 1920s and the 1930s, despite Prime Minister Ismet Inonu's efforts to bureaucratize the government, President Ataturk ignored formal procedures and demanded that cabinet ministers report directly to him.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Nigerian universities have been highly bureaucratized, which is not the case in developed countries.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The Indian state is often over-bureaucratized yet undermanned.

    Blog text (20)
  • So again, very bureaucratized, alienating existence that they're caught up in.

  • The notion of a boarding school for magic is the logical expression of that systematizing, bureaucratizing trend.

    Blog text (29)
  • The Clinton plan has been criticized because it reduces choice for most Americans, bureaucratizes all aspects of health services, constrains physicians and other providers, and is likely to reduce quality in the long term.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The Methodists' love of hierarchy and their willingness to work had dovetailed perfectly with a bureaucratizing America; they had become indistinguishable members of the middle class.

    Academic text (1994)
  • As sport becomes more bureaucratized, Edwards (1973, p. 59) asserts that there is more keeping of records (see proposition III-4).

    Academic text (1999)
  • If fully implemented, the Higher Council suggested by the Treaty would introduce a loose confederal framework over the two countries; and since it would be dominated by the more powerful partner, Syria, it would bureaucratize, stabilize, and legitimize an already extensive Syrian influence over Lebanon.

    Academic text (1994)

Synonyms

to overregulate
vsto bureaucratize
1 6.9

To make too many rules that limit businesses or activities

creates formal administrative procedures and systems rather than simply increasing restrictive rules

Antonyms

99 2.5

Make something easier to understand or use

41 4.1

Make a process or system simpler and more efficient

How Bureaucratic

to bureaucratize
  • Formal
1 8.0
to formalize
  • US
15 4.9
to standardize
  • US
83 4.2

Surface Forms

bureaucratize infinitive
bureaucratized past participle
bureaucratizing present participle
bureaucratizes third person singular

Morphology

bureaucratize = bureaucrat (transparent) = bureaucrat + ize

The transformation from 'bureaucrat' to 'bureaucratize' is clear, indicating the action of making something bureaucratic.

Etymology

Bureaucratize comes from bureau ('desk' or 'office') and the familiar word bureaucrat, a person who works in an office and follows lots of rules. So, to bureaucratize something is to turn it into an office-style system full of official rules and forms, making it more rigid and less flexible.