Democracy in New England: State and Local Politics (First Edition)

Democracy in New England: State and Local Politics (First Edition) PDF

Author: Jonathan Wharton

Publisher: Cognella Academic Publishing

Published: 2017-12-22

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781516525850

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Democracy in New England: A Community Politics Reader analyzes the unique politics and history of the area and explores the political participation of its residents. Highlighting the politics of New Haven, Boston, and Providence, the book features both primary sources and works from the discipline of political science to underscore cultural, historical, and political dynamics. The first three chapters of the book provide a comprehensive overview of direct democracy and the New England creed, local power in early New England, and political participation in contemporary Vermont. Later chapters focus more directly on coalition building politics in Connecticut cities, economic development politics in New Haven, busing and education politics in Boston, and partisan politics in Providence. Developed in recognition of the region's reverence for state and local government and its rich history of self-governance and citizen political participation, Democracy in New England gives readers insight into the soul of our country's direct democracy. The book is well-suited to courses in state and local politics, comparative politics, and American history.

Democracy in New England: A Community Politics Reader

Democracy in New England: A Community Politics Reader PDF

Author: Jonathan L. Wharton

Publisher:

Published: 2017-12-22

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9781516525843

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Democracy in New England: A Community Politics Reader analyzes the unique politics and history of the area and explores the political participation of its residents. Highlighting the politics of New Haven, Boston, and Providence, the book features both primary sources and works from the discipline of political science to underscore cultural, historical, and political dynamics. The first three chapters of the book provide a comprehensive overview of direct democracy and the New England creed, local power in early New England, and political participation in contemporary Vermont. Later chapters focus more directly on coalition building politics in Connecticut cities, economic development politics in New Haven, busing and education politics in Boston, and partisan politics in Providence. Developed in recognition of the region's reverence for state and local government and its rich history of self-governance and citizen political participation, Democracy in New England gives readers insight into the soul of our country's direct democracy. The book is well-suited to courses in state and local politics, comparative politics, and American history. Jonathan Wharton is assistant professor of political science and urban affairs at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut where he teaches courses in United States government, public policy, and state and local politics. Dr. Wharton's teaching and research interests include economic development, gentrification, public policy analysis, and political history. He is author of A Post-Racial Change is Gonna Come: Newark, Cory Booker, and The Transformation of Urban America.

Democracy in New England

Democracy in New England PDF

Author: Jonathan Wharton

Publisher:

Published: 2017-12-22

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9781516557400

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Democracy in New England: A Community Politics Reader analyzes the unique politics and history of the area and explores the political participation of its residents. Highlighting the politics of New Haven, Boston, and Providence, the book features both primary sources and works from the discipline of political science to underscore cultural, historical, and political dynamics. The first three chapters of the book provide a comprehensive overview of direct democracy and the New England creed, local power in early New England, and political participation in contemporary Vermont. Later chapters focus more directly on coalition building politics in Connecticut cities, economic development politics in New Haven, busing and education politics in Boston, and partisan politics in Providence. Developed in recognition of the region's reverence for state and local government and its rich history of self-governance and citizen political participation, Democracy in New England gives readers insight into the soul of our country's direct democracy. The book is well-suited to courses in state and local politics, comparative politics, and American history. Jonathan Wharton is assistant professor of political science and urban affairs at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut where he teaches courses in United States government, public policy, and state and local politics. Dr. Wharton's teaching and research interests include economic development, gentrification, public policy analysis, and political history. He is author of A Post-Racial Change is Gonna Come: Newark, Cory Booker, and The Transformation of Urban America.

The New England Town Meeting

The New England Town Meeting PDF

Author: Joseph F. Zimmerman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1999-03-30

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 0313003637

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In this groundbreaking study, Zimmerman explores the town meeting form of government in all New England states. This comprehensive work relies heavily upon surveys of town officers and citizens, interviews, and mastery of the scattered writing on the subject. Zimmerman finds that the stereotypes of the New England open town meeting advanced by its critics are a serious distortion of reality. He shows that voter superintendence of town affairs has proven to be effective, and there is no empirical evidence that thousands of small towns and cities with elected councils are governed better. Whereas the relatively small voter attendance suggests that interest groups can control town meetings, their influence has been offset effectively by the development of town advisory committees, particularly the finance committee and the planning board, which are effective counterbalances to pressure groups. Zimmerman provides a new conception of town meeting democracy, positing that the meeting is a de facto representative legislative body with two safety valves—open access to all voters and the initiative to add articles to the warrant, and the calling of special meetings to reconsider decisions made at the preceding town meeting. And, as Zimmerman points out, a third safety valve—the protest referendum—can be adopted by a town meeting.

New England Local Government

New England Local Government PDF

Author: Gary L. Rose

Publisher:

Published: 2021-03

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781680539028

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Local government in the New England states has historically been regarded as a style of government that most closely embodies the spirit of American democracy. Although models of local government vary from one town to the next, the common thread which unites all New England towns is that the people are empowered to choose their own form of government, and in doing so control their own destiny. In this fresh and insightful book, Professor Gary L. Rose, a well known commentator on American politics and native New Englander, introduces readers to local government in Connecticut. Rose takes readers on a journey showcasing the origin of Connecticut towns, the different models of government in existence among the state's 169 communities, the means by which towns and cities finance public services, the status of party politics in urban, suburban, and rural communities, the creative endeavors currently underway at the local level of government, and the serious challenges facing local media with respect to performing their "watchdog" role over the affairs of local decision makers. Intended for students, political practitioners, and a general audience, Professor Rose's book not only fills a void in the literature on local government, but will also serve to inspire those who want to make a positive difference in the political life of their local communities.

New England State Politics

New England State Politics PDF

Author: Duane Lockard

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-12-08

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1400878217

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A down-to-earth and fact-filled discussion of New England state politics based on seven years of research and over 1,000 interviews. Originally published in 1959. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Real Democracy

Real Democracy PDF

Author: Frank M. Bryan

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-03-15

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0226077985

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Relying 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.