Use a hierarchical role.
Here is a typical configuration:
<bean id="roleVoter" class="org.springframework.security.access.vote.RoleHierarchyVoter">
<constructor-arg ref="roleHierarchy" />
</bean>
<bean id="roleHierarchy"
class="org.springframework.security.access.hierarchicalroles.RoleHierarchyImpl">
<property name="hierarchy">
<value>
ROLE_ADMIN > ROLE_STAFF
ROLE_STAFF > ROLE_USER
ROLE_USER > ROLE_GUEST
</value>
</property>
</bean>
reference
Edit
, , PermissionEvaluator. : AclPermissionEvaluator hasPermission, true, admin ; return super.hasPermission(...)
beans :
<security:global-method-security pre-post-annotations="enabled">
<security:expression-handler ref="expressionHandler" />
</security:global-method-security>
<bean id="expressionHandler" class="org.springframework.security.access.expression.method.DefaultMethodSecurityExpressionHandler">
<property name="permissionEvaluator" ref="customPermissionEvaluator" />
...
</bean>