Bureaucracy

bureaucracy
    n 1: nonelective government officials [syn: {bureaucracy},
         {bureaucratism}]
    2: a government that is administered primarily by bureaus that
       are staffed with nonelective officials
    3: any organization in which action is obstructed by insistence
       on unnecessary procedures and red tape
    

Bureaucracy \Bu*reau"cra*cy\, n. [Bureau + Gr. ? to be strong,
   to govern, ? strength: cf. F. bureaucratie.]
   1. A system of carrying on the business of government by
      means of departments or bureaus, each under the control of
      a chief, in contradiction to a system in which the
      officers of government have an associated authority and
      responsibility; also, government conducted on this system.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Government officials, collectively; -- used especially of
      nonelected government officials.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]
    

BUREAUCRACY. The abuse of official influence in the affairs of government; 
corruption. This word has lately been adopted to signify that those persons 
who are employed in bureaus abuse their authority by intrigue to promote 
their own benefit, or that of friends, rather than the public good. The word 
is derived from the French. 
    

48 Moby Thesaurus words for "bureaucracy":
      administration, authorities, beadledom, beat, beaten path,
      bumbledom, bureaucratism, chinoiserie, daily grind, directorate,
      government, grind, groove, hierarchy, higher echelons, higher-ups,
      jog trot, management, ministry, official jargon, officialdom,
      officialism, prelacy, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, round,
      routine, ruling class, ruling classes, run, rut, squirrel cage,
      the Establishment, the administration, the authorities,
      the ingroup, the interests, the people upstairs, the power elite,
      the power structure, the top, them, they, top brass, track,
      treadmill, well-worn groove