We've been talking about this too. I find a good analogy to the layers is with theology. eg In societies dominated by Islamic theocracy, there is still a marked difference between theology professors, non-academic community/thought leaders and radical activists.
It's a kind of trickle down and a trickle up effect which feeds into the same core narrative but manifests in very different ways. eg the mob which kills the person they thought burnt the Quran may never have read the sophisticated theology justifying this.