ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 119 



Sometimes, and perhaps usually, the executive power is delegated 

 to a committee of the assembly. The committee may be appointed 

 temporarily to carry out a specific determination of the assembly, 

 or it may be a standing committee to carry out a class of determi- 

 nations. The form of government thus described probably exists 

 at present in some of the tribes of Australia and elsewhere, as such 

 accounts are given by travelers and students of ethnology ; but 

 these accounts are incomplete, and have been made by persons not 

 thoroughly trained in this branch of anthropologic research, so that 

 altogether the existence of such a government is at present uncertain. 

 It is also probable that this form of government has existed in past 

 times among tribes who have now advanced beyond it. The line 

 of argument on which this is based cannot here be presented, and 

 it is but fair to say that positive conclusions have not been reached. 



A somewhat higher form of government has been discovered in 

 America and elsewhere, which may be more thoroughly described. 

 In this the assembly of the people is more definitely organized. 

 The presiding officer is formally selected, and his tenure of office is 

 for life, unless otherwise formally determined by the assembly for 

 cause. In addition to this, a chief or system of chiefs is found 

 whose duties are executive. The chief is also a member of the 

 assembly, but is not a chief by virtue of such membership but by 

 choice of the people. The chieftaincy is never hereditary. 



In the most highly developed governments the three great classi- 

 fications of governmental functions are highly, though not com- 

 pletely, differentiated, giving rise to legislative, executive, and 

 judicial departments, represented by the assembly, the ruler, and 

 the court. 



The assembly itself is elaborately organized and differentiated 

 into two or more correlated divisions. Executive functions are 

 highly differentiated and distributed among various classes of officers 

 over whom the ruler presides. The judicial functions also are 

 differentiated, and superior and subordinate courts are organized. 

 Between the two forms thus described, many intermediate forms 



