The Mayor–Council government system, sometimes called the Mayor–Commission government system, is one of two variations of government used for the most part 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 in the USA. It is a variant of the city commission government.
In the Indian sub-continent the British Government introduced a weak mayor system with a provincial government—appointed commissioner in the municipal corporations as the executive functionary who had the same power of a district officer vis-a-vis other local authorities.
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See also
References
- Monty Rainey. "Municipal Government". Junto Society. http://www.juntosociety.com/government/municipal.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
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