In this provocative new study, Paul du Gay makes a compelling case for the continuing importance of bureaucracy. Taking inspiration from the work of Max Weber, du Gay launches a staunch defence of `the bureaucratic ethos? and highlights its continuing relevance to the achievement of social order and good government in liberal democratic societies.Through a comprehensive engagement with both historical and contemporary critiques of bureaucracy and a careful examination of the policies of organizational change within the public services today, du Gay develops a major reappraisal of the so-called `traditional? ethic of office. In doing so he highlights the ways in which many of the key features of bureaucratic conduct that ca