Riggs analyzed interaction between the administration system and its environment in prismatic societies. His Prismatic Sala model represents a traditional or developing society and 'Sala' is the administrative sub-system of it.

Features of Prismatic Sala model:
1. Heterogeneity:
High degree of heterogeneity in a prismatic society due to simultaneous presence of different kinds of systems, practices and viewpoints.
2. Formalism: High degree; due to discrepancy between formally prescribed and effectively practices i.e. between norms and reality.
3. Overlapping: High degree; due to formally differentiated structures of a diffracted society co-exist with a undifferentiated structures of a fused society.
4. Nepotism: 'Sala' has nepotism in recruitment.
5. Poly-normative: Co-existence of modern, traditional norms leading to lack of consensus on norms of behavior.
6. Poly-communal: Hostile co-existence of communities.
7. Bazaar canteen system: The economic subsystem which combines both market economy and traditional economy. Hence prices of goods keep fluctuating. A small section exploits a large number and controls economic institutions. Prices of goods is determined by relationship between people and officials so it varies largely. In this model, market factors are developed without increase in capital so businessmen try to increase their influence on politics and administration for personal ends. Black market, adulteration, hoarding, inflation is seen. Exploitation, poverty, social injustice are main features.
8. Authority and Control:Authority is centralized but control is localized so dominance of administrators is seen.

Change in a prismatic society:

1. Pace of development is related to sources of change. Western societies change their effective behavior to evolving behavior as they have longer timespan for development. Hence they experience low heterogeneity, formalism and overlapping.
2. Change can be exogenous, endogenous or equigenous. An exogenous society faces more heterogeneity, formalism and overlapping than endogenous as the effective behavior precedes establishment of new formal institutions in endogenous.
3. Prismatic societies face problems of greater heterogeneity, formalism and overlapping in their bid to absorb exogenous change in shortest time.

Critics:
1. Difficulty in language and terms borrowed from sciences.
2. Lack of change orientation i.e. equilibrium models and so not helpful in introducing social change in system.
3. No quantitative levels to measure levels of prismatic and diffraction.
4. Focus on negative character of prismatic society.
5. Societies are characterized into fused, prismatic, diffracted on basis of capitalist values and so no ethnocentric.