Towards the staffs, I am pulled toward the idea that they act as a 'magic wand', so to speak. The power of the wizard is no less or no more when they are with or without this 'wand', but without it, they have little or no way of using this power. When Saruman's staff was broken, I doubt his power was diminished, at least no more than it had been already; I imagine the breaking was simply a way of ensuring that this power could not be used.
Toward the ring, I lean to the thought that it was made in imitation of The One. I have little doubt that it contained power, or at least the capabilities of augmenting power, but I don't particularly think that this ring did much. Saruman had shown (real word?... is now) us that he desired to be like others who were greater than himself: he smoked weed like Gandalf and bred orcs like Sauron, among other things, but I believe he was quite bitter about his own lack of ring, so I think, for that purpose, he made his own. His ring was an attempt to make himself more powerful. I think.
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