When a confederation of tribes becomes thor oughly consolidated by war or otherwise, the chieftaincy of the confederation, having become hereditary, may develop into a kingship through the uniting into one of the offices of chief military leader. supreme judge, and high priest.
At this stage the ethnic society is on the point of passing over into civilization. if it is tempted by the pressure of population upon the means of subsistence to migrate to a more pro ductive region, and after conquering the occu piers of a coveted territory, reduces them to task work, and establishes itself permanently on the soil, it undergoes a further development of feudal organization, and in the course of time begins to include as members of the settled clans and tribes any newcomers who come to reside among them.
Civilization once established develops through three stages, which are well marked so far as the structure, policy, and activities of society are concerned, but which to some extent overlap and run into one another chronologically. The break down of the kinship system, and the intermin gling,' of men of diverse origin at centres of indus trial and commercial activity, are presently fol lowed by the beginnings of assimilation and amal gamation. When this process is perceived, the possibility of creating a new ethnic unity on a broad scale—the unity of a people. one in lan guage, in religion, and in standards of conduct— is seized upon, and a passion for homogeneity begins to express itself in certain great policies. The attempt is made by military campaigns to bring into one political organization adjacent peoples nearly related in blood, in language, and in tradition. and to annex any territory which may form with that already occupied a geogra phic unity. The militarism thus developed is of itself a powerful unifying agency, and it is sup plemented by policies of religious unifieation, and by harsh systems of sumptuary legislation and of criminal law.
When the work of nation-making by policies of unification has been completed, the first stage of civilization yields to a second, which is a result. of the liberation of energies no longer de manded in military activity. Commerce, travel, and learning receive a new impulse. The com parative study of peoples and institutions leads to criticism and discussion. The authoritative r6gime is subjected to review; it begins to disin tegrate under impeachment and resistance. Ra tionalism and liberalism create the great institu tional products of civil liberty and constitutional law. Men no longer eare as of old fur perfect mental agreement ; they encourage the growth of independence and variety. This is the age of progress, of the liberal-legal civilization.
Presently, however, wide liberty, divergence of mental type, and the multiplication of differing interests begin to threaten social cohesion. Pow erful and nnserupulons men abuse their liberty, using it to take an unfair advantage of others and to curtail the liberties of the weak. Free dom of enterprise and of contract are fol lowed by an enormous increase of wealth and of population. But the wealth is cencentrated in relatively few hands and increasingly large nm bers of working men find that they are not receiv ing a proportional share of well-being. Growing inequality places the severest strain upon the social system, and compels the community to limit liberty in some measure by equality. Po litical and legal equality come first. but meas ures of economic equality also are demanded, and great educational enterprises try to achieve an equality of cultural opportunities. This is the modern democratic movement, and the third stage of civilization.