| Description |
1 online resource (viii, 312 pages) : illustrations. |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Series |
American politics and political economy
|
|
American politics and political economy.
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| 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. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Local government -- New England.
|
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Local government. |
|
New England. |
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Democracy -- New England.
|
|
Democracy. |
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Political participation -- New England.
|
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Political participation. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Bryan, Frank M. Real democracy. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004 9780226077963 (DLC) 2003008362 (OCoLC)52057915 |
| ISBN |
9780226077987 (electronic book) |
|
0226077985 (electronic book) |
|
0226077969 (cloth ; alkaline paper) |
|
0226077977 (paperback ; alkaline paper) |
|
