ABSTRACT
This chapter explores for local elites the factors or conditions which facilitate, indeed probably require, elite interactions and those conditions which constrain or constitute barriers to such interaction. It explains the relationship between problem perceptions, value orientations, and elite contact behavior. Local elites from country to country engage in different types of contact behavior. The data on the extensiveness of contacts which certain actors and groups initiate reveal less pressure on Dutch elites than on United States (US) and Swedish leaders. The extent of elite homogeneity or cohesion in contact behavior by city varies. The strongest variable is the pressures on elites, for all countries, and for Sweden and the US there is a small relationship for the other variables. The differences between the systems in elite contact behavior are quite apparent. Comparatively, the finding provides genuine empirical support for a key characteristic of the democratic process at the local level in Western democracies.
