ABSTRACT
One of the obvious features of many cultural systems is the unequal elaboration of their parts. Such inequalities raise questions concerning differential rates of change of the parts within a single system as well as their dissimilar growth patterns in different systems. They also have a bearing upon the problem of diffusion rates. Clark Wissler, writing in 1916, stated the concensus in this way: "The term culture as used by anthropologists generally includes such groups of traits as social organization, ceremonial activities, art and material culture. Even a superficial view of data so far accumulated by anthropologists will show how well this hypothetical picture fits the facts for several culture centers." Religious traits probably come next in facility of diffusion, and, although often subject to modification, not infrequently pass into the new culture almost unchanged. There is also an intimate connection between the diffusion of the concepts of democracy and/or socialism and the diffusion of their respectively claimed technological benefits.
