Synonyms
Administrative Evil and the Holocaust
In Unmasking Administrative Evil, Adams and Balfour (1998, 2015) develop the concept of administrative evil in connection with the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II. While the evil – the pain, suffering, and death – that was inflicted on millions of Jews and others in the Holocaust was so horrific as to almost defy comprehension, it can be understood as facilitated by administrative evil. The administrative evil of the Holocaust is now unmasked (although much of it was masked at the time), and it can now be recognized as an instance of administrative evil because “the Nazis did it” and because it occurred well over 70 years ago. The Holocaust occurred in a modernized society and in a culture dominated by technical rationality and largely within and by organizational roles driven by legitimated public policy. While the Holocaust was horrific and arguably without precedent in human history,...
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Balfour, D., Alibašić, H. (2016). Administrative Evil. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1119-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1119-1
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