Weber briefly described six main characteristics of bureaucracy. Activity, authority, and the fulfillment of duties are distributed in a fixed way to constitute bureaucratic authority. This system is found in all bureaucratic structures as well as large party organizations. Management of the modern organization is based upon written documents, or files, which are preserved in their original form. Office management usually presupposes thorough and expert training.
Official activity demands the full working capacity of the official.
The management of the office follows general rules which can be learned and knowledge of these represent a special technical learning that only the officials possess. All of the above characteristics result in certain internal characteristics of the official. Modern loyalty is devoted to impersonal and functional purposes. Externally, the public official enjoys a guaranteed social position by the rules of rank order and knowing a bureaucratic official is appointed by a superior authority. In some cases, the position of the official is held for life, but the measure of independence legally guaranteed by tenure is not always a source of increased status for the official.