ABSTRACT
The chapter is a study of the political actors involved in local political participation and the relationships that are created between citizens and politicians. The chapter begins by introducing town and city planning meetings, the space for political participation the meetings allows, and the subsequent political relationships that are created and/or reinforced. The majority of the remaining chapter then focuses on the variables that determine city council member relationships with citizens including: city council composition, size, gender representation, parties, at-large versus district representation, and council members’ geographic locations, industry support, and former /current employment. Council members’ attitudes and efforts regarding citizen political participation are examined to help elucidate the motivations citizens have to create the specific relationships that are prevalent in the municipal level of government – the relationships, I argue, that in turn, lend to the creation of particular attitudes toward government.
