THE MAIN VARIATIONS OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
1. The council-manager government is one of two main variations of representative municipal government in the U. S. This system of government is used in the majority of American cities with populations over 12,000. The system is also used in the Republic of Ireland for city councils and county councils.
2. In the council-manager form of government, an elected city council is responsible for making policy, passing ordinances, voting appropriations, and having overall supervisory authority in the city government. In such a government, the mayor (or equivalent executive) will perform strictly ceremonial duties or will act as a member and presiding officer of the council.
3. The council will hire a city manager or administrator who will be responsible for supervising government operations and implementing the policies of the council. The manager serves the council, usually with a contract that specifies duties and responsibilities. Municipal governments are usually divided into several departments, depending on the size of the city. Though cities differ in the division of responsibility, the typical arrangement is to have various departments handle various roles.
4. The council-manager system can be seen to place all power into the hands of the legislative branch. However, a city manager can be seen as a similar role to that of corporate Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in providing professional management to an organization. Council-manager government is much like a publicly traded corporation. In a corporation, the board of directors appoints a CEO, makes major decisions and wields representative power on behalf of shareholders. Likewise in council-manager government, the city council appoints a city manager, makes major decisions, and wields representative power on behalf of the citizens. In New England the city manager may be called town manager, and the council can often be referred to its traditional name of Board of Selectmen.