A model that works really well in large parts of New England is "town meeting" - all the citizens of the town who want to get together annually or semiannually

A model that works really well in large parts of New England is "town meeting" - all the citizens of the town who want to get together annually or semiannually and vote on all the important issues. There are also selectmen, who generally guide the way, and other town staff, who manage the day to day issues, but control is fundamentally in control of the citizens. It only works in towns with a population up to about 10,000 though, before it becomes infeasible to get all those people together and the town needs to react more quickly. In a lot of small towns around here they require that two ISPs provide coverage, so there is actual competition and we get great service fairly cheaply.