Bureaucracy and Policy Implementation in Democratic Governance: A Focus on Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

The study investigated the roles of bureaucracy in Nigeria and its inadequacies in adhering to the Weberian model of policy implementation in the Nigeria democratic governance. The study adopted a survey research design and utilized primary data obtained through the administration of questionnaires to a purposively selected 220 respondents comprising senior bureaucrats and CSOs, and conduct of the in-depth interview. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis with the aid of SPSS. The study revealed that even though, bureaucrats are not necessarily the primary makers of the policy. They play an active role in policy implementation in Nigeria. However, factors such as political pressure, inadequate budgetary allocation, over politicization of the appointment into governmental offices leading to inadequate professionalism, and environmental variables hinder the effective implementation of policy in Nigeria. It was equally established that as ideal as the Weberian model of bureaucracy is, there are inevitable lacuna and inadequacies in its application to Nigeria, due to factors such as socio-cultural forces, collectivism as against individualism, and absolute formalism. The study concluded that, although Weberian bureaucracy could be ideal and applicable to large-scale economy, its model is inadequate in addressing all the needs and circumstances of Nigeria. Hence, the need to restructure or readjust the bureaucracy to adapt to new and complex problems becomes apparent.