Town Meeting Day: Participatory Democracy the Vermont Way

In Vermont, my adopted home state, we do something relatively few others manage these days. Namely, once a year, Vermonters defy blizzards, sub-zero cold, flu, and the demanding outside world to practice participatory democracy at its most basic level. We get together and hash out everything about living in a community while acknowledging that we are also citizens of the state, the country, and the planet.

That's right. I'm talking about Vermont's tradition of Town Meeting Day, always held on the first Tuesday in March regardless of the weather, the current political landscape, and often despite age. In Vermont, you are almost as apt to find toddlers and teens learning about democracy "maple" style as you will octogenarians and older.

If you're thinking of a voting day where people race into an electronic voting booth and dash back out, you have not visited Vermont. First, even in national elections, the Green Mountains state still largely casts Australian ballot. This means we vote by paper and pencil for those of you in the land of hanging, dimpled, and pregnant chads and electronic machines that register more votes than the number of people who cast ballots.

But on Town Meeting Day, the voting gets personal and very much human. A raised voice or hand shows your position, yea or nay. The vote usually comes only after people discuss, suggest, amend, and sigh for a bit.

If you don't like a single item in the town budget projected for the coming year, don't worry. You'll get a chance to discuss it, sometimes even for far longer than you would like. If you don't understand the program or service behind a budget item, you're free to ask for an explanation. If you think the amount listed is either too much or too little, you can jump into the fray and try to get enough interest to get the line item changed.