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Book Cover
E-book
Author Bryan, Frank M

Title Real democracy : the New England town meeting and how it works / Frank M. Bryan
Published Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004

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Description 1 online resource (viii, 312 pages) : illustrations
Series American politics and political economy
American politics and political economy.
Contents Introduction: the methodology of starting from scratch -- Town meeting: an American conversation -- Democracy as a public presence: walking the bounds -- Attendance: the architecture of governance -- Attendance: the context of community -- Democracy as public talk: walking the bounds -- Democracy as public talk: exploring the contexts -- The question of equality: women's presence -- The question of equality: women's participation -- If you build it, let them play -- The best democracy, the worst democracy -- Conclusion: a lover's quarrel
Summary "Relying on more than three decades of firsthand research, Frank M. Bryan examines one of the purest forms of American democracy, the New England town meeting. At these meetings, usually held once a year, all eligible citizens of the town may become legislators; they meet in face-to-face assemblies, debate the issues on the agenda, and vote on them. And although these meetings are natural laboratories for democracy, very few scholars have systematically investigated them." "Studying 1,500 towns in his home state of Vermont, Bryan and his students recorded a staggering amount of data about them. Drawing on this evidence as well as on evocative "eyewitness" accounts, Bryan paints a vivid picture of how real democracy works. In the end, Bryan interprets this brand of local government to find evidence for its considerable staying power as the most authentic and meaningful form of direct democracy."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Local government -- New England
Democracy -- New England
Political participation -- New England
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- Local.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- State & Provincial.
Democracy
Local government
Political participation
Demokratie
Politische Kommunikation
Kommunalpolitik
Politische Beteiligung
Démocratie -- Nouvelle-Angleterre (États-Unis)
Participation politique -- Nouvelle-Angleterre (États-Unis)
Administration locale -- Nouvelle-Angleterre (États-Unis)
New England
Neuengland
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2003008362
ISBN 9780226077987
0226077985
9780226077963
0226077969
9780226077970
0226077977
1282538292
9781282538290
9786612538292
6612538295