It might be observed that in many cases we already know the procedures1 [that create documentary products] from various sources such as annual reports, procedure manuals, policy files. But do we? These sources tell us how administrative action was suppo

It might be observed that in many cases we already know the procedures¹ [that create documentary products] from various sources such as annual reports, procedure manuals, policy files. But do we? These sources tell us how administrative action was supposed to be carried out, rather than how it actually was carried out; they tell us what the procedures ought to be, what management expected to happen, what the system was built for, and finally what the image was that the creating agency wished to reflect. On the contrary, an analysis of the procedures which begins from their final products allows a verification of the discrepancies between rules and actuality and of the continuous mediation taking place between legal-administrative apparatus and society, and makes the reality attainable. This has always been the primary purpose of diplomatic analysis, and its value has not decreased.