The Elder represents merely the executive power.

The real authority resides in the Assembly, of which all Heads of Households are members.* * An attempt was made by Alexander III.

in 1884 to bring the rural Communes under supervision and control by the appointment of rural officials called Zemskiye Natchalniki.
Of this so-called reform I shall have occasion to speak later.
The simple procedure, or rather the absence of all formal procedure, at the Assemblies, illustrates admirably the essentially practical character of the institution.

The meetings are held in the open air, because in the village there is no building--except the church, which can be used only for religious purposes--large enough to contain all the members; and they almost always take place on Sundays or holidays, when the peasants have plenty of leisure.

Any open space may serve as a Forum.