[reaperman]

While I personally agree with your latter sentiment, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bureaucrat to be simply, “a member of a bureaucracy”. Where the top definition of bureaucracy is:

a) : a body of nonelected government officials

or

b) : an administrative policymaking group

So really, any government is a bureaucracy.

[babypuncher]

A government is by definition a bureaucracy, but so is any private corporation. Any organization of sufficient size becomes one out of necessity. Any time you have a bunch of people together and you need to establish any kind of pattern for how things get done, you have a bureaucracy.

What is funny is the way people use the word derisively, as if bureaucracy is inherently evil in some way. Bureaucracy is like math, it is netiehr good nor bad, it simply is. Like math, it can be used to do good or bad things.

[ttepasse]

According to (b) any large company, including Apple, is a bureaucracy.

[reaperman]

That feels accurate. For the parts of the company which are "policy-making", at least.