If you take a historical view, it is bureaucracy that sees you through the rocky patches

Modern politicians proudly announce their desire to sweep away bureaucracy. The contemporary prejudice is that it slows you down, clogs things up; but if you take a historical view, it is bureaucracy that sees you through the rocky patches and enables the state to survive. Bureaucracy is not evidence of inertia ... it can be life-saving continuity - and nowhere is that clearer than China. China is the longest surviving state in the world and it is no coincidence that it has the longest tradition of bureaucracy

N. MacGregor, A history of the world in 100 objects (2010), 395
[71: Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent]