the domains found new employment with the central government. In 1871, the central government supported the creation of consultative assembles at the lowest levels of government, at the town, village and county level. The membership of the prefectural assemblies was drawn from these local assemblies. As the local assemblies only had the power of debate, and not legislation, they provided an important safety valve, without the ability to challenge the authority of the central government. Reorganization of the central government While then domains were being abolished and local administrative boundaries were being moved around, in August 1869, the central government itself underwent some restructuring to reinforce centralized authority. The idea of division of powers was abandoned. The new government was based on a national assembly (which met only once), an appointive Council of Advisors (Sangi), and eight Ministries: Civil Affairs (Home Ministry from 1873) Foreign Affairs Finance Army Navy Imperial Household Justice Public Works Education Decision-making in the government was restricted to a closed oligarchy of perhaps 20 individuals (from Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, Hizen and from the Imperial Court). The Home Ministry, as it appointed all prefectural governors, and controlled police apparatus was the most powerful ministry in the government, and Ōkubo left the Ministry of Finance to head the Home Ministry when it was established. Events leading to Okuma's resignation One of the pressures on the early Meiji government was the division between those members of the oligarchy who favored some form of representative government, based on overseas models, and the more conservative faction who favored centralized, authoritarian rule. A major proponent of representative government was Itagaki Taisuke, a powerful leader of Tosa forces who had resigned from his Council of State position over the Korean affair in 1873. Itagaki sought peaceful rather than rebellious means to gain a voice in government. Such movements were called The Freedom and People's Rights Movement. He started a movement aimed at establishing a constitutional monarchy and a national assembly. Itagaki and others wrote the Tosa Memorial in 1874 criticizing the unbridled power of the oligarchy and calling for the immediate establishment of representative government. Dissatisfied with the pace of reform after having rejoined the Council of State in 1875, Itagaki organized his followers and other democratic proponents into the nationwide Aikokusha (Society of Patriots) to push for representative government in 1878. In 1881, in an action for which he is best known,