<P> The mayor--council government system is a system of organization of local government . It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States and is also used in Canada . It is the one most frequently adopted in large cities, although the other form, council--manager government, is the typical local government form of more municipalities . </P> <P> Characterized by having a mayor who is elected by the voters, the mayor--council variant may be broken down into two main variations depending on the relationship between the legislative and executive branches, becoming a weak - mayor or a strong - mayor variation based upon the powers of the office . These forms are used principally in modern representative municipal governments in the United States, but also are used in some other countries . </P> <P> In a weak - mayor system, the mayor has no formal authority outside the council; the mayor cannot directly appoint or remove officials, and lacks veto power over council votes . As such, the mayor's influence is solely based on personality in order to accomplish desired goals . </P> <P> The weak - mayor form of government may be found in small towns in the United States that do not use the more popular council--manager form used in most municipalities that are not considered large or major cities, and is frequently seen in small municipalities with few or no full - time municipal employees . </P>

If a city has a weak mayor-council form of government the mayor