<italic>In the early 1990s, all German Länder (states) introduced direct election of executive mayors, along with the procedures to recall a sitting mayor by local referendum. This paper looks at the context and causes of this major institutional change and its impact on local politics. Although the...</italic>

In pursuing an historical and comparative approach, the article aims at exploring the relation between local government and 'local community'. For comparative purposes, the paper draws primarily on the UK/England, Germany and Sweden as pertinent examples. The explicitly historical approach of...