What are the three defining characteristics of a bureaucracy?

Bureaucracies had certain tendencies that are both positive and negative.

Here are some examples:

Positives:

A. Often a bureaucracy tends to have long term employees. This is a positive as the organization is almost certain to have a large degree of expertise in the area they are a part of; and

B. In many bureaucracies, the employees had to pass rigorous examinations in order to qualify for a job, to a degree a well run bureaucracy has people who are qualified for their jobs.

Negatives of bureaucracies:

A. Often bureaucracies tend to find ways to enlarge itself. This causes extra salary expenses and unneeded layers of government that slows the work of a government down;

B. Often politicians use bureaucracy's to reward their friends. They help appoint people to bureaucracies who will benefit themselves; and

C. The result of the above statement can have employees that are unqualified.