Everything about Mayor-council Government totally explained
The Mayor-Council government system, sometimes called the
Mayor-Commission government system, is one of two variations of
government most commonly used in modern
representative municipal governments in the
United States. It is also used in some other countries. The
Mayor-
Council variant can be broken down into two main variations depending on the relationship between the legislative and executive branches.
Weak-mayor, or ceremonial, form
In the weak-mayor form of the mayor-council government, the council possesses both legislative and executive authority. The council may appoint officials and must approve of mayoral nominations. The council also exercises primary control over the municipal budget. The mayor, though elected, has little real political power and less independence under this form, serves largely ceremonial duties, and may even be a member of the council. Charles Adrian and Charles Press explain, "The weak-mayor plan is a product of
Jacksonian democracy. It comes from the belief that if politicians have few powers and many checks, then they can do relatively little damage." This form of government is most commonly used in small towns. It is a variant of the
city commission government.
Tucson uses the weak-mayor form of mayor-council government.
In the strong-mayor form the mayor is given almost total administrative authority and a clear, wide range of political independence, with the power to appoint and dismiss department heads without council approval and little public input. In this system, the strong mayor prepares and administers the city budget, although that budget often must be approved by the city council. In some strong-mayor governments, the mayor will appoint a
chief administrative officer, or CAO, who will supervise department heads, prepare the budget, and coordinate departments. This CAO, sometimes also called a
city manager, is responsible only to the mayor. The
government of New York City uses the strong-mayor form of the mayor-council system, as, indeed, do most major American cities.
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