By Fr. Ramon Ulysses Tura MA CMHC
“It’s more fun in the Philippines!” This marketing slogan crafted by the Department of Tourism some time ago intrusively and repeatedly played in my head when I got so frustrated because of a very inefficient and substandard service rendered by a government agency. That day, I organized well and went to this office 15 minutes before their opening hour because I did not plan to stay long there knowing the many things I had to do for the rest of the day. They opened a few minutes late and started by saying to everyone, “You have to go secure first a signature from someone located in another building, then come back here to fill up a form, then go and pay to the bank, then come back here to give us the receipt, then after a week, return here to get what you needed.”
I can’t believe this process! I reasoned in my head, “what can be done in maximum two hours is systemically designed to be accomplished in a week!” When the government wants us to pay tax, they immediately get it and if payment is late, they charge a penalty fee. But why can’t we get this swiftness when we need their service? Is this really fun?
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines bureaucracy as a system of government characterized by the operation of excessively complicated administrative procedure. If Filipinos are known in the world as kind and joyful in their service, why do our government agencies operate this way? To answer this, the psychology of bureaucracy, which explores how rigid rules, hierarchies and standardized processes shape human behavior, decision-making and motivation, needs to be considered.
When there is bureaucracy, employees develop (1) habitual behavior where they succumb to routines to diminish mental fatigue. Over time, following the rulebook becomes a habit rather than a thoughtful choice (Andringa, 2015). This explains why government employees when asked for some considerations, they will just quickly dismiss you by saying, “I’m sorry, it’s the rule.”
Then this leads to (2) goal displacement (Weber, 1922) where they start embracing the rule itself as the main goal instead of the actual outcome. Serving the customer matters less than filling out the correct form or submitting the requirements (Waters & Waters, 2015). This explains why we get out of their office very exhausted because, in the first place, their goal was not oriented toward helping us but just in the implementation of the rule.
Finally, they develop an (3) unhealthy obedience to authority. Their system’s hierarchies shape them to yield their judgment to higher-ups. The risk is they often follow detrimental or inefficient orders because they personally feel unaccountable (Moghaddam, 2021). Doesn’t this sound familiar following repeated responses of some witnesses in the impeachment trial?
Actually, it will be more fun in the Philippines when there will be justice in our system and we are also accountable for this because it is us who decide if we let this continue or not.
