Elmore
Elmore is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont that boasts a population of 855 people. Based on data collected by an inter-collegial team of students, here are our findings regarding its Town Meeting process.
2018 Town Meeting
Summary of Findings
Elmore is only mentioned once in Real Democracy and that is to discuss the participation of women in the town meeting. Overall, participation of women is an indicator of a higher Real Democracy Score. Dr. Bryan’s study of this issue represents “the world’s first summary measures of women’s participation in a large number of instances of open, face-to-face, legislative democracy in general purpose governments. Civilization has evolved dramatically since the days of early Athens when women were not even considered citizens. Now we have an accurate measure of how far we have come. Not far enough. Not yet” (Real Democracy, 2004). The majority of meetings Dr. Bryan studied had more men participants than women, but the 1998 Town Meeting in Elmore stood out with almost twice as many women participating than men. This year, the difference was not as dramatic, but while attendance was 50/50 at peak attendance (and a slight male majority on average), women participated 3% more than the men. There were no contentious issues of the type to draw out a crowd, but the Elmore meeting was notable for the sense of community and neighborly cooperation that can only be found in a small town where everyone knows each other.
Major Data Points
| Year | Peak Attendance | Attendance Rate* | Participation Rate | Real Democracy Score** | Population | Meeting Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 86 | 12.29% | 39.53% | 51.82 | 855 | 2:15 |
| 2008 | 113 | 18.93% | 44.25% | 63.18 | 597 | 3:43 |
| 2006 | 105 | 17.27% | 47.62% | 64.89 | 608 | 2:18 |
| 2005 | 92 | 15.13% | 55.43% | 70.57 | 608 | 3:16 |
| 2002 | 98 | 18.28% | 42.86% | 61.14 | 536 | 2:05 |
| 1998 | 130 | 31.18% | 32.31% | 63.48 | 417 | 3:19 |
| 1997 | 106 | 25.42% | 36.79% | 62.21 | 417 | 2:38 |
| 1996 | 123 | 29.01% | 45.53% | 74.54 | 424 | 4:13 |
| 1991 | 68 | 17.99% | 44.12% | 62.11 | 378 | 1:10 |
| 1988 | 72 | 22.71% | 56.94% | 79.66 | 317 | 1:56 |
| 1987 | 78 | 25.83% | 51.28% | 77.11 | 302 | 2:23 |
| 1986 | 78 | 27.18% | 51.28% | 78.46 | 287 | 2:36 |
| 1984 | 132 | 46.64% | 34.09% | 80.73 | 283 | 3:26 |
| 1983 | 86 | 32.58% | 34.88% | 67.46 | 264 | 2:10 |
| 1980 | 95 | 39.26% | 40.00% | 79.26 | 242 | 2:47 |
| 1978 | 93 | 44.29% | 49.46% | 93.75 | 210 | 5:37 |
| 1971 | 44 | 30.77% | 52.27% | 83.04 | 143 | 2:03 |
*Attendance Rates are calculated using the number of registered voters and peak attendance numbers.
**Real Democracy scores are calculated using attendance and participation numbers. For more infomation on them see the Data Overview Page
Student Involvement
Students help gather data and produce videos on town meeting. Lunch and mileage is paid for.