Circular rules entrap individuals in no-win bureaucratic logic.
Heller's 1961 novel: a pilot can be grounded for insanity, but requesting to be grounded proves sanity. The institutional form is any rule whose satisfaction condition is also its disqualifying condition.
In practice
- A visa requires proof of address, and the address requires the visa.
- An employee cannot be paid without a bank account and cannot open one without a payslip.