Overbyråkratisering

Overbyråkratisering (overbureaucratization) is a phenomenon in public administration and organizational management where growth in rules, procedures, and administrative layers outpaces necessary governance, causing inefficiency and slow responsiveness. The term is used primarily in Swedish-speaking contexts but is applicable internationally to describe excessive bureaucracy that hinders decision-making and service delivery. It often involves forms, approvals, audits, compliance checks, and multi-layered hierarchies.

Causes include expansion of the regulatory state, pursuit of accountability without proportional delegation, performance metrics that reward process compliance over outcomes, outsourcing and fragmentation, and digitalization projects that create new compliance requirements rather than simplification.

Indicators include longer processing times, higher administrative costs, greater staff workload, repeated data collection, and citizen complaints. Consequences can be slower policy implementation, reduced innovation, diminished public trust, and inefficiencies in services such as welfare administration, health care, or education.

Mitigation strategies emphasize simplification and process redesign, one-stop portals, risk-based approaches, sunset clauses, regulatory impact assessments, and digitalization that enables data sharing rather than excessive data collection. Empowering front-line staff and adopting lean governance can restore responsiveness.

Related concepts include red tape, bureaucratic bloat, and administrative burden.