bureaucracy
plural
1.
2. Management or administration marked by diffusion of authority among numerous offices and adherence to inflexible rules of operation: "knew something about bureaucracy and those nameless, faceless forces that can crush the life's blood from the individual" (Rollene W. Saal).
3. An administrative system in which the need or inclination to follow complex procedures impedes effective action: innovative ideas that get bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy.
[French bureaucratie : bureau, office. See