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Mayor–council government

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Form of city government
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Common forms of local government
Executive and legislature separateMayor - Council

Executive mayor elected by the people, elected legislative City council

Council - Manager

Executive city manager hired by the elected City Council
Executive and legislature fusedCity Commission
Elected commission enacts laws and governs
Direct democratic formsTown meeting
Citizens vote on policy, officers, and laws
Executive arrangements in EnglandLeader and cabinet

Executive leader elected by the council from among themselves

Elected mayor and cabinet
Executive mayor elected by the people

Committee system
Executive leader and executive committees elected by the council from among themselves

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A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States, and is the form most frequently adopted in large cities, although the other common form, council–manager government, is the local government form of more municipalities.

The form may be categorized into two main variations depending on the relative power of the mayor compared to the council, the strong-mayor variant and the weak-mayor variant.

In a typical strong-mayor system, the elected mayor is granted almost total administrative authority with the power to appoint and dismiss department heads, although some city charters or prevailing state law may require council ratification. In such a system, the mayor's administrative staff often prepares the city budget, although that budget must be approved by the council. The mayor may also have veto rights over council votes, with the council able to override such a veto.

Conversely, in a weak-mayor system, the mayor has no formal authority outside the council, serving a largely ceremonial role as council chairperson and is elected by the citizens of the city. The mayor cannot directly appoint or remove officials and lacks veto power over council votes.

Most major North American cities use the strong-mayor form of the mayor–council system, whereas middle-sized and small North American cities tend to use the council–manager system.

See also

References

  1. Kathy Hayes; Semoon Chang (July 1990). "The Relative Efficiency of City Manager and Mayor–Council Forms of Government". Southern Economic Journal. 57 (1): 167–177. doi:10.2307/1060487. JSTOR 1060487.
  2. Saffell, Dave C.; Harry Basehart (2009). State and Local Government: Politics and Public Policies (9th ed.). McGraw Hill. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-07-352632-4.
  3. George C. Edwards III; Robert L. Lineberry; Martin P. Wattenberg (2006). Government in America. Pearson Education. pp. 677–678. ISBN 0-321-29236-7.
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