Frank M. Bryan is a retired John G. McCullough Professor of Political Science at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

. He is a noted local scholar, author and humorist, having written and co-written over ten books and numerous articles. His areas of teaching and research include Public Administration, American Government, and State and Local Government. He has conducted extensive research on the Vermont town meeting and has developed a mathematical model for predicting voter turnout.

Early life and career

The son of a single mother who worked in a local

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

, Bryan was one of seven students in his graduating class at Newbury High School. Kauffman, Bill (2004-09-13
Democracy in Vermont
''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'' Professor Bryan received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. Michael's College in 1963, a master's degree from the University of Vermont in 1965 and PhD. in Political Science from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

in 1970.

Writings

Bill Kauffman Bill Kauffman (born November 15, 1959) is an American political writer generally aligned with the localist movement. He was born in Batavia, New York, and currently resides in Elba, New York, with his wife and daughter. A devout Roman Catholic ...

has called Bryan's book ''Real Democracy'' "the definitive work on

town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

," Kauffman, Bill (2005-12-19
Free Vermont
''

'' and has written that:

Bryan was a legendary character at the University of Vermont, where he taught political science: he is the horny-handed son of toil who does
regression analysis In statistical modeling, regression analysis is a set of statistical processes for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable (often called the 'outcome' or 'response' variable, or a 'label' in machine learning parlance) and one ...
, the regular-guy intellectual who prefers the company of “working-class people ... the old Vermonters.” The irrepressible Bryan has made a major contribution to his field (and his country, which is Vermont) with Real Democracy (University of Chicago Press), his magnum opus, the most searching and sympathetic book ever written about the town-meeting democracy of New England. The book is a veritable four-leaf clover of academia: a witty work of political science written from a defiantly rural populist point of view.

Some of his other books include ''All Those In Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community, The Vermont Papers: Recreating Democracy on a Human Scale'' (with John McClaughry), ''OUT! The Vermont Secession Book'' (with Bill Mares), and ''Real Vermonters Don't Milk Goats''.

Quotes

“While many seek the truth by scanning galaxies through powerful telescopes, my eyes have been glued to a microscope—looking down, not up, inward, not outward. America has often seemed transfixed by big. I am captivated by small.”

References

External links

Frank M. Bryan at the University of Vermont"Democracy in Vermont"
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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Frank University of Vermont alumni University of Vermont faculty University of Connecticut alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Saint Michael's College alumni Place of birth missing (living people)