FROM WEBERIAN BUREAUCRACY TO ALGORITHMIC GOVERNANCE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BUREAUCRATIC SUBJECT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The Weberian bureaucracy that dominated the administrative structure of the modern state for many years, along with this model’s institutional logic based on human-centered policy formulation, decision-making, implementation, and monitoring processes, is being reshaped with the emergence of algorithmic governance, a new administrative paradigm based on artificial intelligence. The study questions whether the increasingly widespread use of artificial intelligence in public administration represents merely a process of technical modernization or a structural transformation that alters the nature of administrative power. The aim of the study is to analyze artificial intelligence and algorithmic governance from a public administration perspective in their theoretical, practical, and conceptual dimensions and to reveal the effects of these technologies on public administration. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative research approach; in addition to a conceptual and analytical examination based on a literature review, the comparative method has also been employed. In terms of findings, the study demonstrates that human-centered decision-making, implementation, and oversight processes are gradually being replaced by algorithmic systems, and that this situation reshapes the manner in which public power is exercised. The study concludes that artificial intelligence–based algorithmic governance in public administration should be considered not merely as a technical tool but as a structural element that transforms the nature of administrative power; it reveals that this situation necessitates the strengthening of the legal framework of algorithmic systems and the restructuring of transparency and accountability mechanisms.