Which of the following best expresses why town meetings, when they started, once exemplified direct democracy in its richest form? a. town meetings were reserved only for the wealthy landowners whom the community trusted to represent their interests. b. town meetings provided a local venue in which politicians would privately decide how much town residents would pay for utilities. c. town meetings allowed citizens to have open discussion on local matters and vote on ordinances, rather than rely on elected representatives. d. town meetings provided a venue in which town residents would vote on a state representative to represent their interests at the national level.

The correct answer is C.  Town meetings allowed citizens to have open discussions on local matters and vote on ordinances, rather than rely on elected representatives.

Explanation:

In politics, the term direct democracy refers to a political system in which citizens are the ones that directly take the decisions related to policies, usually though votes, this differs from representative democracy because in representative democracy citizens choose representants or a few people who take the decisions. On the other hand, town meetings are a form of local government in which citizens of a community gather to take decisions over the policies and other aspects related to the community where they live. This types of assemblies were an example of direct democracy because all the members of a community gather and all of them directly vote and take the decisions. Therefore, the reason why town meetings exemplified direct democracy was that "town meetings allowed citizens to have open discussions on local matters and vote on ordinances, rather than rely on elected representatives".

i want to say death; parole, probation, and fines are still being used all the time.