Download or read book Local Councillors in Europe written by Björn Egner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-16 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Councillors are the essence of local representative democracy, linking ordinary citizens and decision-makers in municipal arenas. In cross-national perspective, and taking in countries from across Europe, this book analyses the recruitment patterns, career, party associations, role perceptions, and attitudes to democracy, representation, and participation of local councillors. Matters such as gender, parties, institutions, municipal reform, functions in governance networks, and councillor influence are considered using data collected in an international survey, covering some 12,000 members of the local political elite. Drawing on diverse and eclectic literature, the contributions in this volume comprise a comprehensive and revealing analysis of modern councillors.