Prior to the Nazis' demonstration of the potential of bureaucracy, the destructiveness of rationally directed government bureaus was largely unappreciated. We now know, however, how easily political expediencies can mold bureaucracies into mechanisms of human destruction. This potential causes great concern because the panoply of nuclear, biological, chemical, mechanical, and psychological weapons available today provides bureaucrats with the means to act inhumanely toward large numbers of peo- ple with relative ease. Serious inquiries have been made into various facets of the problem of bureau- cratic inhumanity, but no single explanation suffices to explain the phenomenon. In this article, I discuss ten compelling factors, presented in no particular order, as a pre- liminary guide to understanding this important and menacing aspect of modern life.
Most people exhibit a nearly mindless obedience to authority.
Even more disturbing, this large percentage of Americans would inflict pain on innocent people willingly and even enthusiastically upon the mere request of someone whose authority was established by nothing more than his wearing the white coat of a laboratory technician and speaking in a firm voice. These people readily substitute obedience to authority figures for the dictates of their personal moral code. Furthermore, this phenomenon is not restricted by language, geography, political system, or era. The experiment revealed that the sadism of people unhealthily obedient to authority can be tapped into and given an expressive outlet by their association with a bureaucratic organiza- tion, demonstrating that placing people in an environment in which they can freely exercise their sadistic impulses can have a liberating effect on their doing so. Zimbardo conducted the experiment by setting up a mock jail in the basement of a building and using participants from the general public who had been selected for their normality.