Basic to the exercise of power is the ability to retain that power in spite of actions and events that might give the ruled reason to make changes.

It is fashionable to exalt change, and aspirants for public office win votes and support by claiming they will change institutions for the better. Modern society often needs change badly to end unjustifiable inequalities. But established institutions ensure that change will be minimal and superficial. The term “change” is exceptionally ambiguous. Its connotations make it possible to claim there is change when the basic institutions and stabilities have been reinforced while only superficial policies have been altered. Conversely, actions that entail substantial change can be seen as continuation of a tradition and those that entail virtually no change at all can readily be labeled “radical,” “revolutionary,” or “historic.”