I love the Town Meeting Civil Invocation, because it speaks of civility.
In this election year, there鈥檚 been an awful lot of yelling about building walls 鈥攆rankly, I could use a little more conversation about building bridges. And in fact, civic infrastructure is what town meeting is all about.
鈥淲e are gathered today in civil assembly,鈥� the invocation begins. 鈥淲e gather to make decisions; about what is right, about what is wrong. Let us advocate for our positions, but not at the expense of others.鈥�
The Invocation seems even more important, given new research about the possible cause of our current incivility 鈥攏amely, the way government engages citizens.
鈥淐onventional participation鈥� is what social scientists call most formal government meetings, and every public hearing you鈥檝e ever been to.
New research is clear: conventional participation is ineffective鈥攁nd worse. Conventional participation tends to increase people鈥檚 feelings of powerlessness. It decreases our interest and trust in government; it lowers our public spiritedness and our perceptions of government credibility; and it increases polarization.
Conventional participation techniques like public hearings are frustrating and discouraging for public officials, too.
But perhaps most importantly, conventional participation can create poor governance. As relationships fray, governments are seen as less legitimate, and can become less financially sustainable.
But a good town meeting is not 鈥渃onventional鈥� participation.
In a well functioning community, town and school meetings are closer to what researchers call 鈥渢hick鈥� participation - where citizens come together to deliberate, hear and influence each other, and take meaningful, empowered action. 鈥淭hick鈥� participation improves community resilience, builds social capital, and can even strengthen the economy.
Town Meeting Day was never intended to be the only time we talk about local issues. It鈥檚 the culmination of a year's worth of selectboard and planning commission meetings, school discussions, conservation commission hikes, conversations at soccer games, and a thousand other ways neighbors shape communities.
In slow years, town meeting has lower participation. But it stands ready for us in difficult years, when there are hot issues, and leaders to be held accountable. Once a year鈥攅very year鈥攊t鈥檚 a culminating act of self-governance.
We should all keep in mind the Civil Invocation鈥檚 conclusion, urging us to remember that 鈥溾€� our neighbors with whom we disagree are good people, 鈥榳ith hopes and dreams as true and as high as ours.鈥� And鈥� in the end, caring for each other, in this community, is of far greater importance than any difference we may have.鈥�
Welcome to town meeting.
