Town hall meetings and the death of deliberation / Jonathan Beecher Field.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Field, Jonathan Beecher, author.

Series:

Forerunners (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Forerunners: Ideas First

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public meetings--United States--History.

Public meetings.

Local government--United States--History.

Local government.

Democracy.

History.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

77 pages ; 18 cm.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis ; London : University of Minnesota Press, 2019.

Summary:

"Jonathan Beecher Field tracks the permutations of the town hall meeting from its original context as a form of democratic community governance in New England into a format for presidential debates and a staple of corporate governance. In its contemporary iteration, the town hall meeting models the aesthetic of the former but replaces actual democratic deliberation with a spectacle that involves no immediate electoral stakes or functions as a glorified press conference. Urgently, Field notes that though this evolution might be apparent, evidence suggests many US citizens don't care to differentiate." -- Back cover.

Contents:

This is what looks like democracy - Town meeting as democratic ideal - Town hall meeting as debate format - Town hall meeting as constituent service - Town hall meeting as campus spectacle - Town hall meeting as corporate event - The future of the town hall meeting.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1517908566

9781517908560

OCLC:

1114880634