Whiel approving comments I came across a link to Flagg’s discussion of protocol from a French website. Thanks to online translation, I can even read it!
The original link
Translated by Google
Translated by Live (choose French -> English)
The East Wing Perspective on Protocols in The Estate: What and Why
When we formed The Estate, it was with the specific goal of codifying what we like into a structured, well thought-out and consistent set of rules and guidelines that could be used all the time. Our feeling is, it should never be necessary to [...]
The West Wing Perspective on Protocols:
Intent and Practice
To clarify my terms:
There may be some confusion as to what a Protocol is- I would
first like to point out what a protocol is not. Protocol is not
ritual, although it may contain ritual elements.
Ritual is a behavior, repeated by situation or on demand. The
purpose of ritual [...]