Brookline, however, was socially distinct from its neighboring towns that voted in favor of annexation. The elitism of its ruling upper class population, which had no middle class to counter it, led to a sense that Brookline was much more capable than Boston. Many citizens did see the benefits of becoming part of the metropolis, but in the end the ruling class found it beneficial to have more direct control over its government. Brookline's form of government, the town meeting, allowed every adult male citizen to cast a vote on every law, while a board of five Selectmen was elected as the executive branch of the government. While the anti-annexationists viewed this as the most democratic form of government a town could have, opponents claimed that Boston's more centralized representative political structure could better serve the needs of the community without the threat of corruption.