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66-444: Representative town meetings function largely the same as open town meetings , except that not all registered voters can participate or vote. The townspeople instead elect town meeting members by precinct to represent them and to vote on the issues for them. Representative town meetings (RTMs) vary from town to town, and can vary widely in terms of rules and bylaws . The town of Westport, Connecticut has non-partisan RTMs, where while

132-437: A town council . Some towns use a financial town meeting form where an open town meeting exists with limited jurisdiction to vote solely on financial affairs while the town's legislative powers have been vested in a town council. Town meetings may have binding votes for some items in which the meeting participants vote to approve or deny the measure. Some towns require a referendum for items such as annual budgets and changes to

198-408: A charter and is the legislative and governing board of the town, but has different requirements for their respective charters. The representative town meeting follows the procedures of a regular town meeting, and has the authority to address all matters that can be legally addressed at the annual or a special town meeting. Matters that the law or charter states must be placed on the official ballot of

264-442: A city and eliminated its representative town meetings, no Maine cities or towns operate under a representative town meeting form of government. Open town meeting remains the most common form of local government, dominating in the 431 towns and 34 plantations, while the council–manager form dominates in the 23 cities. Alfred Chandler of Brookline introduced the idea of limited or representative town government as early as 1897, but it

330-576: A ground-breaking theatre-in-the-round format broadcast with a live studio television audience and local residents directly asking questions of the candidate. The producer of Nixon's "Man in the Arena" live town-hall programs was Roger Ailes , who would later become CEO of Fox News when that channel launched. Ailes' use of a direct voter-to-candidate question-and-answer format served as the blueprint for subsequent and now ubiquitous town hall candidate formats and even multiple-candidate debates. Another step in

396-524: A member may belong to a party, it may not be advertised as such, and the First Selectman may veto any legislation passed excepting for appropriations . Wethersfield, Connecticut , however, requires "minority representation" so that no one party can control the RTM. Groton, Connecticut , specifically allows for a valid meeting to take place with no less than half the body present, that the meeting must be open to

462-694: A modified version of it. Maine annual town meetings traditionally are held in March. Special town meetings also may be called from time to time. The executive agency of town government is an elected , part-time board, known as the Board of Selectmen , having three, five, or seven members. Between sessions, the board of selectmen interprets the policy set at Town Meeting and is assigned numerous duties including: approving all town non-school expenditures, authorizing highway construction and repair, serving as town purchasing agent for non-school items, issuing licenses, and overseeing

528-488: A new requirement that a man must own taxable property with a value of at least 20 pounds in 1658 and increased that sum to 80 pounds in 1670. The 1670 law had a grandfather clause allowing all those who previously were qualified to keep the franchise. In 1691, the property requirement was lowered back to 20 pounds. In provincial elections, only church members could vote. The number continued to fall from there. While in many respects Massachusetts society resembled England,

594-438: A report on online town hall meetings, which found they grew in size and importance starting in the mid-2000s. Despite the name town hall, meetings need not take place in a town hall. They commonly take place in a range of venues, including: schools, libraries, municipal buildings, churches, etc. Generally they are held in a public space and there is no charge to attend. In a given district, town hall meetings that are organized by

660-585: A town budget, and approve large contracts. Town selectmen can call special town meetings throughout the year as needed, although these must be approved by a judge if they affect the budget. State law prohibits town meetings from being held on the biennial election day in November. State law lets the town moderator adjourn a long-running meeting and reconvene it at a later date to finish the town's business. Any town meeting or adjournment thereof must have its time and place published with three days' notice, along with

726-538: A town through a special act of the state legislature, by petitioning the General Court to enact special legislation which applies solely to that town, or by using the Home Rule Charter process. NH RSA 49-D-3 III. provides for representative town meeting, though no town has adopted this form of government. The representative town meeting is similar to that of the town council form of government, which acts under

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792-470: A type of direct democratic rule that originated in colonial New England , attendees do not vote on issues during town hall meetings. In the United States , town halls are a common way for national politicians to connect or reconnect with their constituents during recesses, when they are in their home districts away from Washington, D.C. Town hall meetings can be traced back to the colonial era of

858-607: A variety of locations distributed across a voting district so that elected representatives can receive feedback from a larger proportion of constituents. Historically, no specific rules or guidelines have defined a town hall meeting. Any event that allows constituent participation with a politician may be called a town hall, including gatherings in person, group phone calls, or events on Internet platforms such as Facebook or Twitter . Attendees use town halls to voice their opinions and question elected officials , political candidates , and public figures. In contrast to town meetings ,

924-547: Is direct democracy , while its alternatives, representative town meeting and town council, are representative democracy. It is a form of government typical of smaller municipalities in the New England region of the United States. In Massachusetts, towns with fewer than 6,000 residents must adopt the open town meeting form of government. Massachusetts towns with 6,000 or more residents may adopt either open town meeting or

990-451: Is chosen at the start of each meeting, which is typically held in a public venue, either in the town itself or nearby. Votes are taken by voice, and if close by show of hands. In towns with an open town meeting form, all registered voters of the town are eligible to participate in and vote at town meetings. Representative town meeting is used by some larger towns, where voters elect representatives to participate in town meetings, similar to

1056-430: Is for local and regional officials to hear the community's views on public issues. There have been no specific rules or guidelines for holding a town hall meeting. The format of the meetings can vary. Usually, the person holding the meeting (e.g. member of Congress) makes some opening remarks. Sometimes others (e.g. local leaders) will address the audience, as well. The main part of a town hall meeting tends to occur when

1122-530: Is held in the spring and may also be known as the annual budget meeting. Towns were once required to hold their annual town meetings between February 1 and May 31, but Chapter 85 of the Acts of 2008 extended this window of time to June 30. (Town fiscal years start on July 1.) At this meeting, the town budgets for the new fiscal year and takes care of any outstanding housekeeping items from the current fiscal year. It may also vote on non-budgetary warrant articles, including

1188-484: Is unfamiliar in British English where politicians instead hold surgeries . Despite their name, town hall meetings do not necessarily take place in a town hall. They are commonly held in a range of venues, including schools, libraries, municipal buildings, and churches. A number of officials have also experimented with digital formats for town halls. Town hall meetings organized by national politicians are often held in

1254-430: Is used in portions of the United States , principally in New England , where it has been the primary form of town government since the 17th century. Town meetings have been practiced in the U.S. region of New England since colonial times and in some western states since at least the late 19th century. Town meeting can also refer to meetings of other governmental bodies such as regional water or school districts . While

1320-521: The representative town meeting form of government. The select board summons the town meeting into existence by issuing the warrant, which is the list of items—known as articles—to be voted on, with descriptions of each article. The Moderator presides over the meeting, making sure that the town's chosen rules of parliamentary procedure are followed, judging the results of voice votes or shows of hands and counting votes that are too close to be judged by eye or ear. The Finance Committee , often called

1386-455: The warrant specifying each issue to be decided. Town meeting can amend the warrant articles before voting on them, and can conduct non-binding discussions of other issues, but cannot make other binding votes without this notice to town voters. Attendance wanes over the course of a town meeting, and a traditional tactic was to re-vote after many on the opposite side had gone home. In 1991, the state enacted RSA 40:10 , giving town meeting members

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1452-477: The 17th century. However, participants in town hall meetings do not actually vote or make legally binding decisions as town meeting voters do. In March 1795 Wilmington, Charleston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New-York, and other towns had public meetings related to the Jay Treaty which was leaked to the early press by sitting senators. Some political organizations track publicized town hall events by politicians across

1518-536: The 19th century. Canadian town halls have been forums for provincial politicians to discuss issues of the day since at least the 20th century. During the 1993 elections, televised town hall meetings were one of a number of initiatives mainstream media adopted to center ordinary citizens at the heart of their campaign coverage. These efforts, which also included panels of voters to offer comment in print and on radio shows, have been collectively praised as an "international best practice." The purpose of town hall meetings

1584-485: The Advisory Committee, makes recommendations on articles dealing with money and often drafts the proposed budget. The Town Clerk serves as the clerk of the meeting by recording its results. Town Counsel may make legal recommendations on any articles of the warrant, to ensure town meeting is acting lawfully. Massachusetts towns having at least 6,000 residents may adopt a representative town meeting system through

1650-538: The General Court took authority to appoint assessors from selectmen and gave it to town meetings. An act of the colonial legislature gave town meeting the right to elect its own moderators in 1715, but this had already been in practice for several years in towns such as Dedham . A colony law required all voters to be church members until 1647, though it may not have been enforced. The law changed in 1647, requiring voters to be above 24 years of age. The colony added

1716-544: The United States and to the 19th century in Australia. The introduction of television and other new media technologies in the 20th century led to a fresh flourishing of town hall meetings in the United States as well as experimentation with different formats in the United States and other countries, both of which continue to the present day. Town hall meetings are meant to resemble the New England town meeting that originated in

1782-539: The United States. The 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in some respects resembled a modern town hall meeting, although the candidates did not take questions from the audience. Not until the twentieth century did presidential candidates commonly campaign in person. Gradually, especially from the 1990s onward, presidential town hall meetings have become nearly as common as stump speeches . Richard Nixon's 1968 U.S. Presidential campaign staged nine live televised question and answer sessions using

1848-533: The abstract principles under which they would live and regulated the most minute details of their lives. The decisions they made then affected the lives of their children and grandchildren. Town meeting often had a reputation for being "active, suspicious, contradictory, and cantankerous," but it was well regarded by others. In 1692, the Great and General Court declared that final authority on bylaws rested with town meetings and not selectmen. Two years later, in 1694,

1914-462: The ballot. Town hall meeting Town hall meetings , also referred to as town halls or town hall forums , are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or regulation. During periods of active political debate, town halls can be a locus for protest and more active debate. The term originates mainly from North America , and

1980-449: The basis of their poor attendance and lack of representativeness. Jane Mansbridge and Donald L. Robinson have argued that town meetings in Vermont and Massachusetts feature extremely low turnout in part because they last for a full working day, leading to disproportionate representation of seniors and non-working residents in the meetings. As participation is still voluntary for attendees of

2046-561: The compensation of appointees. (See also: Council-manager government .) From 1927 to 1939, eleven other Maine towns adopted special act charters similar to the Camden charter. Today, 135 Maine towns have the town meeting-selectmen-manager system, while 209 use the town meeting-selectmen system. The town meeting "was the original and protean vessel of local authority." The early meetings were informal, with all men in town likely participating. Even when it did not fully exercise it, "the power of

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2112-419: The conduct of all town activities. Often the part-time selectmen also serve as town assessors , overseers of the poor, and road commissioners . Generally, there are other elected town officers whose duties are specified by law. These may include clerks, assessors, tax collectors , treasurers , school committee members, constables , and others. In 1927 the town of Camden adopted a special charter and became

2178-1054: The core of government for most New England towns today. Since the turn of the nineteenth century, political scientists have characterized New England's town meetings as notable examples of direct democracy. In 1831, political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville visited several townships in Massachusetts, remarking in the first volume of Democracy in America (1835) that town governments in New England appeared to show greater political independence than French communes or other municipal bodies in Europe. Tocqueville believed that town meetings, with direct power given to attending residents, trained citizens for participation in broader democratic society. Town meetings also influenced American republican thought particularly for Thomas Jefferson , who believed they were "the perfect exercise of self-government and for its preservation." Town meetings represent some of

2244-511: The council from among themselves Elected mayor and cabinet Executive mayor elected by the people Committee system Executive leader and executive committees elected by the council from among themselves Town meeting , also known as an "open town meeting," is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where only elected representatives can participate in

2310-451: The development of the modern town hall meeting came on March 16, 1977, when President Carter attended a televised town hall meeting in Clinton, Massachusetts , that was "modeled after" a real town meeting but did not include binding votes. Bill Clinton made town hall meetings a part of his presidential campaign. Interest in town halls fluctuates depending on the level of public interest in

2376-475: The final vote by secret ballot attracts more voters than town meetings do because of the shorter time requirement, and absentees can vote. Deliberative sessions have been charged with " sabotaging " the intent of a ballot question; for example, changing a warrant article, "To see if the Town will raise and appropriate (amount) for (purpose)" to merely read, "To see." A 2011 law barred deliberative sessions from deleting

2442-407: The first Maine town to apply the manager concept to the town meeting-selectmen framework. Under this system, the manager is administrative head of town government, responsible to the select board for the administration of all departments under its control. The manager's duties include acting as purchasing agent, seeing that laws and ordinances are enforced, making appointments and removals, and fixing

2508-446: The floor is opened up to questions and comments from the audience. Attendees generally present ideas, voice their opinions, ask questions of the public figures, elected officials, or political candidates at the town hall. Sometimes, the town hall meeting is televised or recorded. In recent years, town halls held by political candidates have announced and enforced rules on crowd behavior and the scope of questions that may be asked. If

2574-465: The franchise was more widespread in the colony than it was in the mother country, as were the powers of local elected officials. Open town meeting is the form of town meeting in which all registered voters of a town are eligible to vote, together acting as the town's legislature. Town Meeting is typically held annually in the spring, often over the course of several evenings, but there is also provision to call additional special meetings. Open town meeting

2640-444: The governing assembly, any town voter may participate in an open town meeting. This form is distinct from town hall meetings held by elected officials to communicate with their constituents, which have no decision-making power. At a town meeting, attendees determine the ordinances or rules of the town, its boards and commissions, elected and appointed positions, capital investments, expenditures, budgets, and local taxation, as well as

2706-503: The legislation. In districts where elected representatives have not scheduled town halls, some constituents have publicly petitioned for meetings. Creative requests for town hall meetings include humorous flyer and sticker campaigns as well as songs. Some constituents have held mock town halls, using a cardboard cutout or empty chair , to stand in for elected representatives who decline to meet with them. Australian town hall meetings have been held by state politicians since at least

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2772-422: The manner and frequency of future town meetings. Because towns self-govern and maintain their autonomy, town meetings vary from state to state, as well as from town to town. Since town residents directly participate in their own governance and represent themselves without any intermediary, town meeting is an example of direct democracy , and examined as a case study in democratic theory. The town meeting form

2838-408: The meeting, Mansbridge also notes differences in participation on the basis of education and class when conflicts arise, writing that "the face-to-face assembly lets those who have no trouble speaking defend their interests; it does not give the average citizen comparable protection." Feminist critics have also identified mixed results in town meetings. While women's rates of attendance at town meetings

2904-592: The municipal ballot. Under SB 2, a first session, called a "Deliberative Session", is held about a month prior to the town election. This session is similar in many ways to the traditional town meeting. However, unlike the town meeting, while the wording and dollar amounts of proposed ballot measures may be amended, no actual voting on the merits of the proposals takes place. Deliberative sessions are less well attended, in bodies that have adopted SB 2, than are plenary town meetings in bodies that have not adopted SB 2, as their decisions are not final. However,

2970-532: The municipal election. To adopt SB 2, or to revert to traditional town meetings, a question to that effect on the municipal ballot must win a three-fifths majority. This format was instituted by the state legislature in 1995 because of concerns that modern lifestyles had made it difficult for people to attend traditional town meetings. In 2019, however, the law was changed so that the three-fifths majority would have to occur at town meeting itself: The town meeting would have to vote to remove its own final decisions to

3036-691: The normal charter change process in the State Legislature. Representative Town Meetings function largely the same as an Open Town Meeting except that not all registered voters can vote. The townspeople instead elect Town Meeting Members by precinct to represent them and to vote on the issues for them. Before it became a city in 2018, Framingham , which at the time was the largest town in the Commonwealth by population, had 216 representatives in Town Meeting, twelve from each precinct . An annual town meeting

3102-624: The number of signatures required on a petition rises to 100. While the Selectmen generally call such a meeting, voters may call one through petition, and the number of signatures required on a petition to call a special town meeting is 200 or 20% of the registered voters, whichever number is lower. The selectmen have 45 days from the date of receiving such a petition to hold a special town meeting. In New Hampshire , towns, village districts (which can deal with various government activities but usually concern public water supplies) and school districts have

3168-656: The only modern institutions, apart from some townships in Minnesota and the cantons of Switzerland, in which everyday citizens can regularly participate in "face-to-face" assemblies that deliberate binding collective action decisions in the form of laws. Proponents of communitarianism and civic republicanism in political thought, notably Frank M. Bryan of the University of Vermont , have advocated town meetings as forms of direct democracy based upon unitary values. Deliberative democrats , such as James Fishkin , have presented

3234-418: The option of choosing one of two types of annual meeting: Traditional meetings, and ballot-vote meetings that are known informally as "SB 2" or "Senate Bill 2". A variation of SB 2 and representative town meeting are also allowed under state law but as of 2015 are not in use by any community. Traditional town meeting is held annually on the second Tuesday of March to choose town officers, approve

3300-582: The parish church. Another is that it stemmed from New England colonists aboard the Mayflower who, upon landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts , gathered to adopt their own rules of governance, the Mayflower Compact . In colonial New England there was very little separation between church and town governance, but town meeting continued to play a secular role after the disestablishment of the state churches, forming

3366-812: The proposed health care reform legislation began attending town halls to express their disagreement with the legislation. The large and vocal crowds led some representatives to cancel or scale back their town hall events. Representative Brian Baird canceled his live town hall meetings after receiving death threats, choosing to hold a telephone conference call with his constituents instead. Town hall meetings by teleconference or online grew in popularity. Obama held some as sitting President, starting in 2011. Federal agencies have held town halls on Twitter since at least 2013. Some politicians have held AMAs on Reddit, which have similar formats. In 2017, constituents opposed to repeal of that same health care act began attending town halls to express their disagreement with abolishing

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3432-493: The public, and that senior town officials such as the town clerk or Superintendent of Schools have all the same rights as members except for voting or raising motions. Greenwich, Connecticut , with a representative town meeting and a Select Board, is the largest town in Connecticut (61,171 population as of 2010 census) with a town meeting / Select Board style of government. As of January 1, 2013, when Sanford re-incorporated as

3498-483: The right to bar reconsideration of a specified vote (or any "action...which involves the same subject matter"). If a town meeting does not bar reconsideration and later does vote to reconsider a decision, the issue can be taken up only at an adjourned session at least one week later. Official ballot referenda, or the SB ;2 format, provides that town voters make binding decisions not at town meeting but by secret ballot in

3564-865: The second Tuesday in March, the second Tuesday in April, or the second Tuesday in May. The election dates may be changed by majority vote. If a vote is taken to approve the change of the local elections, the date becomes effective the following year. In 2002, according to the University of New Hampshire Center for Public Policy studies, 171 towns in New Hampshire had traditional town meeting, while 48 had SB 2. Another 15 municipalities, most of them incorporated cities, had no annual meeting. The study found that 102 school districts had traditional town meeting, 64 had SB 2 meeting and 10 had no annual meeting. Because traditional-meeting communities tend to be smaller, only one third of

3630-518: The state's population was governed by traditional town meetings in 2002 and only 22 percent by traditional school-district meetings. The Official Ballot Town Council is a variant form of the Town Council, in which certain items are to be placed on the ballot to be voted on by the registered voters. This process mimics the SB 2 process, except that the Town Council makes the determination of what items will go on

3696-503: The subject matter of a warrant article. In 2016, petitioners in Exeter submitted an article to place on the ballot an advisory "vote of no confidence" in a school official, and the deliberative session removed the word "no". The second session, held on a set election day, is when issues such as the town's budget and other measures, known as warrant articles, are voted upon. When adopting SB 2, towns or school districts may hold elections on

3762-509: The topics being discussed. Controversial or confusing issues that are prominently discussed in the news have led to more town halls being held. Since the 2000s, town halls held by political candidates have announced and enforced rules on crowd behavior and the scope of questions that may be asked. According to a 2024 study, members of the US Congress held over 25,000 town halls over the period 2015–2022. In 2009, Tea Party groups opposed to

3828-441: The town meeting as a setting of "empowered participation" in which thoughtful deliberation between all participating individuals can coexist with a sense of engaged citizenship and responsibility for solving local problems. Both camps, however, note the difficulties of maintaining the benefits of town meetings when the format is scaled to larger groups. Other political scientists have expressed more skepticism toward town meetings on

3894-407: The town meeting knew no limit." Town meeting created principles to regulate taxation and land distribution; it bought land for town use and forbade the use of it forever to those who could not pay their share within a month; it decided the number of pines each family could cut from the swamp and which families could cover their house with clapboard. The men who went to that town meeting hammered out

3960-426: The town's general and zoning bylaws. An article may be placed on the warrant by the Selectmen, sometimes at the request of town departments, or by a petition signed by at least ten registered voters of the town. Special town meetings' may be held whenever necessary, usually to deal with financial or other pertinent issues that develop between annual town meetings. They function the same as an annual town meeting, only

4026-456: The town's ordinances. For those items, the town meeting votes to whether or not to send the issue to a referendum, which is held at a later date pursuant to the schedule laid out in that town's ordinances. In Maine , the town meeting system originated during the period when the District of Maine was part of Massachusetts . Most cities and towns operate under the town meeting form of government or

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4092-462: The town, cannot be decided by the representative meeting. To have a representative town meeting, the town must approve a charter that includes the following: Elected town officials, such as the board of selectmen, town clerk , and chairman of the town budget committee, are members-at-large. Open town meeting Executive mayor elected by the people, elected legislative City council Council - Manager Executive leader elected by

4158-440: The turnout is large, and if the objective of the particular town hall meeting is to give as many people as possible an opportunity to speak, then the attendees can be broken down into smaller discussion groups. Each smaller group, in that case, appoints someone to summarize discussion of their group. Some have explored alternative formats for town hall meetings, such as an "electronic town hall." The Congress Foundation commissioned

4224-469: The uses and laws vary by town and state, the general form is for residents of the town to periodically gather and serve as the legislative body , voting on finances, ordinances, and other matters of governance. Records of early New England governance are sparse, leading to debate about the origin of town meeting. One interpretation is that it was adapted from local vestry meetings held in 17th century England that were responsible for financial decisions of

4290-432: Was nearly equal relative to men's, their participation in discussion relative to men declined as the size of the town increased. Connecticut town meetings are usually bound to a published agenda; meeting participants can not alter proposed items or add new business. Each town determines the method, frequency, and range of governance for its town meeting and codifies these in its ordinances or town charter. A moderator

4356-525: Was not adopted until 1915, when Brookline accepted an act of the Massachusetts legislature providing for "precinct voting, limited town meeting, town meeting members, a referendum, and an annual moderator in the Town of Brookline." Newport, Rhode Island, influenced by Chandler, had adopted a form of representative town meeting in 1906. Representative or "Limited" Town Meeting consists of Town Meeting members elected from election districts or precincts and Members-at-Large. Representative Town Meetings may be chosen by

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