A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.
The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.
Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.
Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.
The command hierarchy or structure in which one rank obeys the one above it, which obeys the one above it, and so forth.