Town Hall Meeting is a concept which originated in New England when everybody in the town showed up to speak their piece and then vote on an issue. In today's heterogeneous communities with large populations, more often, town hall meetings are held so that people can influence elected officials in their decision making. Such influence needs to be considered in light of the fact that the people who attend are not necessarily a representative sample of the community.

There are few rules or guidelines for holding a town hall meeting. If the turnout is large, and the objective is to give as many people as possible an opportunity to speak, the group can be broken down into smaller discussion groups. Participants all hear an opening presentation and then group-up to discuss an aspect of the presentation. Each group appoints someone to summarize their group's discussion.

References

• UM-St. Louis Public Policy Research Center

See also:

• Town meeting