New England Town Meeting and the Cultivation of Deliberative Play

Abstract

Participants of New England town meeting must follow protocols to participate in this direct democratic process. Over the past 200 years, the protocols have been enacted and adapted by participants in small towns across the region. Within annual meetings, one can find small breaches that could be interpreted as playful acts. In this paper, we use the comic frame as a theoretical lens to interpret instances of such play within the rhetorical deliberation of one New England town meeting. We analyze two instances where speakers playfully use recognized parts of town meeting to achieve their rhetorical ends. We conclude with a discussion of the way play can help accomplish identification in public discourse.

An Enduring System of Local Deliberative Democracy: The 21st Century Legal and Normative Structure of Massachusetts Town Meeting

“…However, few scholars of deliberative theory and practice have engaged the subject of contemporary town meeting comprehensively and analytically. Historical portraits of Massachusetts town governance (Abbott 1935;Adams 1892;Brown 1955;Bryce 1888;Handlin & Flug Handlin 1947/1969Harrington 1984;Gustafson 2019;Kerr 1964;Lockridge & Kreider 1966;Lombardo 1997;Mandell 2019;Potter 1957;Round 1999;Tilden 1958;Tocqueville 1835;Zuckerman 1968, 1978, Zimmerman 1967) are more numerous than contemporary studies (Bresler 1996;Bryan 2004;DeSantis & Hill 2004;Leslie 2013Leslie , 2018Mansbridge 1980;Salvino, Tasto, & Turnbull 2012;Townsend 2004Townsend , 2006Townsend , 2009Townsend , 2019Townsend & Milburn 2022;Zimmerman 1999). The area thus remains ripe for study.…”

“…Town meeting offers participants a chance to deliberate on proposals before they vote. In deliberations, participants ask questions, give answers, weigh benefits and costs, make arguments, tell stories, and engage in verbal play (Townsend 2006(Townsend , 2009(Townsend , 2019Townsend & Milburn 2022). They bring their own professional expertise, experiences, and have town staff and consultants.…”