mayor, in modern usage, the head of a municipal government. As such, the mayor is almost invariably the chairman of the municipal council and of the council executive committee. In addition the mayor may fulfill the roles of chief executive officer, ceremonial figurehead, and local agent of the central government. In another, more recent, system of municipal management—the council-manager system—the mayor has a much reduced role, serving essentially only as head of the council. Whatever the form of local government, the mayor’s role may be said to rest largely on the relationship of the mayor to the council and to the central government.
Mayors are either appointed or elected. In Europe, until about the middle of the 19th century, most mayors were appointed by the central government. With the rise of representative government, more and more countries adopted the practice of electing the mayor. This practice takes a variety of forms. In most European countries the mayor is elected by the local council from among its members and is usually the leader of the majority party or of one of the largest parties. In Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan, most mayors are popularly elected.
In countries where the mayor is an agent of the central government, as in France, the mayor is usually the actual as well as the nominal head of the local government. In other words, the position is generally determined by the central government, and the mayor has much greater executive powers than the council. As an agent of the central government, the mayor is the mainspring of the municipal administration and the focal point of policy.
With the development of popularly elected municipal councils, most mayors have taken on a dual role, serving not only as chief executive officer of the municipal administration but also as agents of the central government charged with such functions as maintaining public order, security, and health.
In the United States the central government never did control the cities directly and mayors were either elected by the populace at large or chosen by a city council whose members were also so elected. Among the reform measures of the early 20th century was the so-called council-manager system, in which the mayor, whether chosen by the council or by the electorate at large, merely presided over the council while most executive powers were exercised by a city manager hired by the council.