LEADER 04502nam 22007694a 450 001 9910953960203321 005 20251111110049.0 010 $a9786612538292 010 $a9781282538290 010 $a1282538292 010 $a9780226077987 010 $a0226077985 024 7 $a10.7208/9780226077987 035 $a(CKB)2670000000015068 035 $a(EBL)515736 035 $a(OCoLC)609863540 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000365044 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12132499 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000365044 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10402749 035 $a(PQKB)10943131 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0000122693 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC515736 035 $a(DE-B1597)524047 035 $a(OCoLC)746883510 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780226077987 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL515736 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10381173 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL253829 035 $a(Perlego)1852292 035 $a(MiFhGG)PLEX011391 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000015068 100 $a20030410d2004 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aReal democracy $ethe New England town meeting and how it works /$fFrank M. Bryan 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aChicago $cUniversity of Chicago Press$d2004 215 $a1 online resource (332 pages) $cillustrations 225 1 $aAmerican politics and political economy 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a9780226077963 311 0 $a0226077969 311 0 $a9780226077970 311 0 $a0226077977 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFrontmatter --$tContents --$tPreface: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Democrat --$tAcknowledgments --$t1. Introduction: The Methodology of Starting from Scratch --$t2. Town Meeting: An American Conversation --$t3. Democracy as Public Presence: Walking the Bounds --$t4. Attendance: The Architecture of Governance --$t5. Attendance: The Context of Community --$t6. Democracy as Public Talk: Walking the Bounds --$t7. Democracy as Public Talk: Exploring the Contexts --$t8. The Question of Equality: Women's Presence --$t9. The Question of Equality: Women's Participation --$t10. If You Build It, Let Them Play --$t11. The Best Democracy, the Worst Democracy --$t12. Conclusion: A Lovers' Quarrel --$tIndex 330 $aRelying on an astounding collection of more than three decades of firsthand research, Frank M. Bryan examines one of the purest forms of American democracy, the New England town meeting. At these meetings, usually held once a year, all eligible citizens of the town may become legislators; they meet in face-to-face assemblies, debate the issues on the agenda, and vote on them. And although these meetings are natural laboratories for democracy, very few scholars have systematically investigated them. A nationally recognized expert on this topic, Bryan has now done just that. Studying 1,500 town meetings in his home state of Vermont, he and his students recorded a staggering amount of data about them-238,603 acts of participation by 63,140 citizens in 210 different towns. Drawing on this evidence as well as on evocative "witness" accounts-from casual observers to no lesser a light than Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn-Bryan paints a vivid picture of how real democracy works. Among the many fascinating questions he explores: why attendance varies sharply with town size, how citizens resolve conflicts in open forums, and how men and women behave differently in town meetings. In the end, Bryan interprets this brand of local government to find evidence for its considerable staying power as the most authentic and meaningful form of direct democracy. Giving us a rare glimpse into how democracy works in the real world, Bryan presents here an unorthodox and definitive book on this most cherished of American institutions. 410 0$aAmerican politics and political economy. 606 $aLocal government$zNew England 606 $aDemocracy$zNew England 606 $aPolitical participation$zNew England 615 0$aLocal government 615 0$aDemocracy 615 0$aPolitical participation 676 $a320.8/5/0974 700 $aBryan$b Frank M$098478 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910953960203321 996 $aReal democracy$94367605 997 $aUNINA