TRIE STATE APPARATUS IN THE THIRD WORLD 37 The contribution of Weber on bureaucracy is yet another important theoretical development as far as the state apparatus is concerned.6 Weber was able to locate bureaucracy in the larger economic context. His observation that bureaucracy is a product of surplus indicates that only stable surplus can give rise to permanent personnel. For a society which is not sure of its minimum levels of production cannot have a regular and permanent personnel. Once the personnel are recruited on a regular basis, the concepts of 'merit' and 'neutrality' assume importance. This is an attempt to create a class of people who subserve any political group in power irrespective of its ideological thrust. This has become possible in the western context where the capitalist path of development had acquired a degree of consensus. The middle class particularly the techno-managerial class which does not own the capital nor is engaged in the direct material production is best suited for subserving the needs of capital and also power maintenance. This is precisely the reason why merit is defined in apolitical and amoral terms. In order to further ensure the neutrality, Weber emphasised on impersonal approach in performing tasks of the bureaucratic organisation. In terms of legitimacy of power Weber extolled the virtues of bureaucracy as its locus is in the legal rational authority. The concept itself indicates that what is legal is also rational. He is right when he stated that the other forms of authority viz., traditional and charismatic are non-rational, if not irrational. The question does arise; whether the legal and rational concepts are necessarily positive and developmental. Max Weber also avoided the moral questions. For capitalism can always be justified on legal and rational but not on moral grounds. However, the legal rational authority is definitely a better form of authority than the earlier feudal forms of authority which were both coercive and arbitrary. The Weberian paradigm has not only provided a theoretical base for major debates but has been one of the significant influences on the administrative systems of the West and also the Third World. There have been other theoretical developments like Human Relations Movement with an emphasis on informal organisation.7 It was Chester Barnard who described 'authority' as fiction.8 He defined organisation as basically a cooperative system based on contribution-satisfaction-equilibrium. He further maintained that authority lies with those who are accepting and not with those who are exercising it. The subsequent motivational concepts went on emphasising on non-material incentives as the prime stimulants of hard work and initiative of the functionaries in organisations.9 In a way this was a search for the non-material base of human personality which can be tapped for capital accumulation. These approaches did not have much impact on the Third World state apparatus partly because of their