Summary:
More than 100 students fanned out to thirty town meetings in Vermont on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, gathering data, producing short videos and studying “real democracy.” Below are preliminary results and here is a link to the student videos and a VT Digger story about the project and a collection of photographs by Photojournalism major Sophie Macmillan.
Real Democracy Scores:
The “Real Democracy” score combines attendance and participation rates. Frank Bryan documented in Real Democracy many factors that contribute to this score including the size of the town, whether the meeting was held in the morning or evening, and issues under debate. The full data (draft) is posted here.
Data Overview:
| Town | Peak Attendance | Attendance Rate* | Total Participants | Participation Rate | Real Democracy Score** | 2017 Population | Length of Meeting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belvidere | 31 | 13.48% | 25 | 80.65% | 94.12 | 412 | 4 Hours |
| Fayston | 85 | 6.85% | 41 | 48.24% | 55.09 | 1,298 | 3 Hours |
| Leicester | 59 | 8.08% | 25 | 42.37% | 50.46 | 1,166 | 1.5 Hours |
| Charlotte | 119 | 3.67% | 48 | 40.34% | 44.01 | 3,818 | 3.33 Hours |
| Monkton | 107 | 6.52% | 38 | 35.51% | 42.03 | 1,951 | 3.25 Hours |
| Jericho | 142 | 3.31% | 49 | 34.51% | 37.82 | 5,055 | 4.2 Hours |
| Hartland | 145 | 5.33% | 46 | 31.72% | 37.05 | 3,422 | -/- |
| Hinesburg | 153 | 3.75% | 48 | 31.37% | 35.12 | 4,509 | 3 Hours |
| Richmond | 143 | 4.34% | 39 | 27.27% | 31.61 | 4,128 | 2.75 Hours |
| Fairfield | 93 | 6.67% | 21 | 22.58% | 29.25 | 1,899 | 1.5 Hours |
| Underhill | 146 | 5.75% | 30 | 20.55% | 26.29 | 3,053 | 2.5 Hours |
| Georgia | 115 | 3.07% | 25 | 21.74% | 24.81 | 4,691 | 1.53 Hours |
| Fairfax | 69 | 1.76% | 15 | 21.74% | 23.5 | 4,574 | 2.1 Hours |
| Randolph | 123 | 3.71% | 21 | 17.07% | 20.78 | 4,715 | 3 Hours |
| Westford | 47 | 2.82% | 2 | 4.26% | 7.08 | 3,019 | 20 Minutes |
| Williston | 87 | 0.92% | 5 | 5.75% | 6.67 | 9,341 | 30 Minutes |
*Attendance Rates are calculated using the number of registered voters (2018 data from the Secretary of State website) and peak attendance numbers.
**Real Democracy scores are based on attendance and participation.
Student Involvement
Students help gather data and produce videos on town meeting. Lunch and mileage is paid for.