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Public Administration vocabulary · Bureaucracy and Procedures

Red tape

Meaning in public administration, with examples

idiomCommon term

In public administration, red tape means: Official rules, forms and procedures that seem unnecessary and slow things down, especially when dealing with public bodies.

In Turkish: kırtasiyecilik, bürokratik engeller, bürokrasi

How it is used

Always negative; common in news and speeches. Governments promise to cut, reduce or slash red tape, and businesses complain about being tied up in red tape. The name comes from the red ribbon once used to tie official papers together.

Example sentences

  1. The new online system has cut a lot of red tape for people opening a small business.

  2. Volunteers said the red tape involved in organising a street event was discouraging.

Common collocations

  • cut red tape
  • bureaucratic red tape
  • tied up in red tape
  • reduce red tape
  • bureaucracyA system of administration based on fixed rules, written records and a clear hierarchy of officials; in everyday speech, also slow and complicated official procedures.
  • paperworkThe routine work of preparing, filling in and filing the documents and forms needed for an official process, or those documents themselves.
  • streamlineTo make a process or organization simpler and more efficient, for example by removing unnecessary steps, forms or approvals.
  • procedureAn official, fixed set of steps for doing something, such as applying for a permit, handling a complaint or approving a payment.

More terms: Bureaucracy and Procedures

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