Conclusion

Zusammenfassung

How the relationship between citizens and their elected representatives is structured has an important bearing on the functioning of representative democracy and leaves trace on the quality of decisions being made within a political system, as well as on satisfaction of citizens with the performance of the system. In that sense, personal representation was deemed as an important element of local self-government, as active local councilors contribute to each of its three core values: autonomy, efficiency, and participation. Through regular contacts with their constituents and committed council work, local councilors ensure that genuinely local issues are brought onto agenda and that solutions to these issues reflect the preferences of the local community.