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Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. p.55 6.2 Description of the sample………………………………………………………….p.56 6.3 Actual interaction between citizens and local politicians………… p.57 6.4 Expectations concerning the interaction between citizens and local politicians ………………………………………………………………………….p.61 6.5 Expectations and actual interaction…………………………………………. p.71 6.6 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………..p.71 Chapter 7 _ Übach-Palenberg: empirical findings 7.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. p.73 7.2 Description of the sample………………………………………………………….p.74 7.3 Actual interaction between citizens and local politicians………… p.75 7.4 Expectations concerning the interaction between citizens and local politicians…………………………………………………………………………. p.80 7.5 The literature on local politics……………………………………………………p.90 7.6 Conclusion and recommendations…………………………………………….p.91 Chapter 8 _ Valkenburg: empirical findings 8.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. p.95 8.2 The Case Study of Valkenburg aan de Geul-a Dutch Municipality………………………………………………………………………………..p.95 8.3 Description of the Sample………………………………………………………… p.97 8.4 Actual Interaction between Citizens and Local Politicians………. p.98 8.5 Expectations concerning interaction between citizens and local politicians………………………………………………………………………… p.101 8.6 Expectations and Actual Interaction………………………………………. p.109 8.7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. p.111 Chapter 9 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………. p.113 References………………………………………………………………………………………………p.119 Annex 1.…….……………………………………………………………………………………………p.125 This booklet is devoted to the relationship between citizens and local councillors in four municipalities in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion. Eight Bachelor students of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University conducted the research, in collaboration with Professor of Local and Regional Governance Klaartje Peters. We are grateful for the help of all participating citizens in the four municipalities and we are thankful for the hospitality of the municipalities. We also would like to thank the mayors and all other local politicians, and City Inspector Thomas de Jong who invited us to present the results of our research on June 27, 2016, in Übach-Palenberg. Finally, we want to thank the institutions that made this project possible, not the least the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University, Sabine Kuipers for her help with the editing and Dr. Pieter Caljé, who deserves our gratitude for organizing and coordinating MaRBLe projects at our faculty, and offering Bachelor students a chance to learn how to do research.