Variations in the level of female political participation were examined in the context of the "standard" model of political participation (higher socioeconomic status, urbanism, living at society's center, increased participation) and the "decline of community" model (decreased group membership, increased mobility, decline of community "boundariness" and continuity, loss of sense of "stake" in community, participation). Female political participation was measured via observation of participant number and verbal response in 44 Vermont town meetings in 1970-71. Hypotheses tested were: (1) women will participate more in those towns where many women hold officer's posts than in towns controlled by men; (2) in those towns where the participation levels in politics are generally high, female participation will be relatively higher than in towns of low participation; (3) towns with relatively high ratios of female participation will be "modernizing" towns. It was concluded that the "standard" model was ineffective for purposes of explaining female involvement in town meetings. Variables identifying towns with higher socioeconomic status did not identify those towns with higher female participation, but modernization variables did, as female verbal response was more equal than that of men in small towns with fewer family farms and population increases. (JC)