ence than do the communes of any other
European state.[687]

[Footnote 687: J. Redlich, Das Wesen der
oesterreichischen Kommunalverfassung (Leipzig,
1910).]

Except in the case of some of the larger towns, which have special
constitutions, the rural and urban communes of the Empire are
organized upon the same pattern. The executive authority is vested in
an elective committee, or council, presided over by a _Vorsteher_, or
burgomaster, chosen from the members of the committee. The _Vorsteher_
is not removable by the central authorities, and over his election
they possess no control. In certain of the towns the place of the
communal committee is taken by a corporation. In every commune there
is an assembly (the _Gemeindevertretung_), the members of which are
elected for three (in Galicia six) years by all resident citizens who
are payers of a direct tax. For the purpose of electing assemblymen
the voters are divided into three classes, very much as under the (p. 488)
Prussian electoral system, and this arrangement, indeed, comprises
virtually the only non-democratic aspect of the communal constitution.
In Galicia, Styria, and Bohemia there exists also a district assembly,
elected for three years (in Galicia six) and made up of
representatives of great estates, the most highly taxed industries and
trades, towns and markets, and rural communes. A committee of this
body, known as the _Bezirksausschuss_, administers the affairs of the
district.

CHAPTER XXVI (p. 489)

THE GOVERNMENT AND PARTIES OF HUNGARY

I. THE CONSTITUTION

*540. Antiquity.*--By reason of both its antiquity and its adaptability
to varying conditions, the constitution of the kingdom of Hungary
deserves to be considered one of the most remarkable instruments of
its kind. Like the fundamental law of England, it is embodied in a
maze of ancient statutes and customs, and it is the distinctive
creation of a people possessed of a rare genius for politics and
government. On the documentary side its history is to be traced at
least to the Golden Bull of Andrew II., promulgated in 1222; though
that instrument, like the contemporary Great Charter in England,
comprised only a confirmation of national liberties that were already
old.[688] Under Hapsburg domination, from the early sixteenth century
onwards, the fundamental political system and