Poorly rated exercises in bureaucracy (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
red tape
'bureaucracy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'poorly rated exercises' is the wordplay.
'poorly' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen this in other clues).
'exercises' becomes 'pe'.
'rated' with letters rearranged gives 'redta'.
'redta'+'pe'='RED-TAPE'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for red tape that I've seen before include "Excessive bureaucracy (3.4)" , "unnecessary paperwork" , "legally binding" , "Bureaucratic ribbon" , "officialdom" .)