Bureaucratic forms cannot change fundamentally without larger societal change

Evidence

In sum, if bureaucracies mirror the society in which they develop it is difficult to change bureaucratic forms fundamentally without larger changes taking place. While superficial changes may frequently develop in bureaucratic organizations-for example, changes in the relative degree of adminis- trative centralization-in a sense there remains a deeper structure of organizational relationships that are not likely to yield easily to administrative rationalizations. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1360

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes superficial change from fundamental change — a key definitional hinge for tracking what actually gets institutionalized.