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SUBMISSION

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different ranks from coming into actual or merely psychological
 competition with his own supremacy.
The process of gradation gives the group the form of a
pyramid. In this case the subordinates are not an equalized
 mass, but they stand to the common superior in different
 strata of power and dependence. These strata grow
constantly smaller in size, but greater in significance. They
lead up gradually from the inferior mass to the superior
ruler.
This group form may come into existence in two different
 ways. In the first place, it may result from a distribution
 of power from above. Here the ruler may intentionally
 create a juxtaposition of ranks and classes. In that
case the result will not be a weakening of his power, but a
better protection of his position. The quantity of submission
 remains the same, but it is unequally distributed over
the subjects. The resulting type of social structure is apt
to be strongly conservative, because every class or rank
that has another class subordinate to it will be interested
in the persistence of the existing form. The distribution
of power from above is, however, only in rare instances the
result of a voluntary relinquishment on the part of the
ruler. What usually happens is that the ruler loses the
substance of his power and allows it to slip downward,
while retaining its form and titles. The orders nearest to
the ruler will retain most of his power, while the rest will
go to those farther distant. The result will be a gradual
percolation of his power through the whole group and
a continuity and gradation of superior-inferior relations
among all the elements.
This is the process by which oriental monarchies have
usually obtained their characteristic form. Indolence or
ignorance of governmental technique on the part of the
persons comprising their administrations has usually pre-