However, since these extreme ideal-types, which hardly had any real-life exam- ples, were not adequate to explain the nature of society and administration in the postcolonial developing nations, Riggs was searching for a more appropriate model. He eventually came up with a new analytical construct (known as the prismatic model) to explain these transitional nations. While doing his field work in Thailand (1957-58) and teaching in the Philippines (1958-59), Riggs articulated this prismatic model based on the metaphor of prism – as the fused white sunlight (which represents the fusion of several colours) passes through a prism, it becomes diffracted into several separate colours. Here the fused light signifies the fused structures of traditional society (single structure performing all necessary func- tions); the diffracted colours represent the specialized or differentiated structures of modern society (separate structures or institutions for major functions); and the situation within the prism (which is a transitional phase between the fused and diffracted stages) reflects the condition in developing nations, which Riggs began to define as prismatic societies (Riggs, 1964). In explaining the nature of administra- tion in these transitional societies, Riggs systematically used an ecological approach to explore their non-administrative domains of society, politics, economy, and culture.