The organization of society into those who exercise authority and those who submit to it manifestly creates strong vested interests in opposition to social change that would destroy positions of power. The “ideal type” bureaucracy consists of superiors who make broad policy and issue directives that their subordinates then “carry out”; at each level of the hierarchy this pattern repeats itself.

The concept of authority, then, can be seen either in a light that justifies it no matter how irrationally it is exercised or in a changed perspective that encourages failure to submit to it when large numbers of people find it unnecessary and undesirable; failure to submit ends authority.

But subordinates are able to exercise a great deal of discretion that can amount to policy making of the most basic kind; this can include sabotage of the directives from above or reversal of them. A striking contemporary example can be found in the “Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue” directive issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President to guide policy toward homosexuals in the armed forces. Since that policy allegedly took effect, commanders have frequently asked and relentlessly pursued suspected homosexuals, and their actions constitute the real “policy.” So subordinates as well as superiors often constitute obstacles to change.

When hierarchical decisions and policies are carefully examined, it becomes clear that the policies proclaimed at high levels, such as legislative and top executive proclamations, respond to politically potent demands or allay widespread fears. That is their function rather than to prescribe what actions will take place.