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All Those in Favor
Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community
by Susan Clark and Frank Bryan With 10 anniversary update supplement All Those In Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community is by educator Susan Clark and University of Vermont political science professor Frank Bryan.
This book examines Vermont’s town meeting tradition – its strengths, its vulnerabilities, its problems and its prospects – then offers specific tips for citizens and local officials on how to strengthen local democracy. Frank Bryan is a nationally recognized expert on town meeting, and his analysis is infused with Vermont lore and a sense of humor. Clark's local interviews shape the book’s tips, and lively quotes pepper the pages. The authors emphasize town meeting’s long-standing role as a local legislature, where citizens come face to face to create their own laws (rather than electing representatives to do so). Social scientists rank Vermont among the highest in civic engagement and social capital, and Clark and Bryan make the link between these positive indicators and direct, deliberative democracy. The 10th Anniversary update, which is featured as an insert in the 2005 book, includes new data, laws and trends. PRAISE FOR ALL THOSE IN FAVOR: "Read this book if you care about Vermont. Here are ways to make sure town meeting, the core of Vermonters' self governance, retains its vitality." – Karen B. Horn, Vermont League of Cities and Towns ------------- "Feel like you could use more community in your life, or more life in your community? Town meeting is the place to start, and this is the book that will show you how." – Bill McKibben, activist and author of "Wandering Home: A Long Walk Through America's Most Hopeful Region, Vermont's Chaplain Valley and New York's Adirondacks" ------------- "Frank Bryan and Susan Clark agree with John Dewey that 'Democracy begins at home.' They offer both a crisp synthesis of Bryan's detailed study of town meeting... And strategies for engaging more citizens in this quintessentially democratic political institution." – Michael Sherman, Vermont historian and co-author of "Freedom and Unity: A History of Vermont" ------------- For additional details see press release. |
To purchase, mail a check to VIG (see details below), contact your local bookseller, or order from Amazon.com.
Mail-order cost is $7/book plus shipping and handling: $2.95 for 1-3 books $3.50 for 4-7 books $4.50 for 8-10 books Contact us for bulk orders Mail check (payable to Vermont Institute for Government) to: VIG 42 McCullough Hill Road Middlesex, VT 05602 Bookstores: Contact us for wholesale/consignment pricing. |
