With regard to your referencing Tocqueville’s admiration for the New England town hall: we no longer live in villages, but many aspects of our lives are based on neighborhoods. We have neighborhood schools, neighborhood parks, and neighborhood concerns regarding infrastructure maintenance. In Japan there are neighborhood police boxes. There might be local administration of these governmental functions. Clearly, small subdivisions of cities cannot be allowed to make policy, since such power would only yield chaos. But allowing the management of one’s neighborhood would give citizens training in making the trade-offs that governing requires as well as a sense of empowerment.
Shared with a contact at the ACLU of MA. Really appreciate and look forward to your guidance on how to improve public participation in the Abundance moment and democratic process overall.
Mr. FF, this sounds like a good opening perspective on the issue. I definitely found it worth the read.
With regard to your referencing Tocqueville’s admiration for the New England town hall: we no longer live in villages, but many aspects of our lives are based on neighborhoods. We have neighborhood schools, neighborhood parks, and neighborhood concerns regarding infrastructure maintenance. In Japan there are neighborhood police boxes. There might be local administration of these governmental functions. Clearly, small subdivisions of cities cannot be allowed to make policy, since such power would only yield chaos. But allowing the management of one’s neighborhood would give citizens training in making the trade-offs that governing requires as well as a sense of empowerment.
Shared with a contact at the ACLU of MA. Really appreciate and look forward to your guidance on how to improve public participation in the Abundance moment and democratic process overall.