what make a mayor strong may be a matter of many facets. it is also a question of strong in what sense, and in relation to what and whom. at a systemic level, it is not least also a question of the relative strength of local government itself. a French mayor may enjoy a very strong position in his or her commune. an assessment would, however, also have to account for the fact that French communes on average are among the smallest in Europe, and play a less central role in the implementation of national welfare state policies than do e.g. their Nordic counterpants. this is an aspect of what Dahl and Tufte in their discussion of size and democrazy have called system capacity
i have touched upon factors having to do with political strength and political-administrative capacity, like the degree of professionalization among institutional and structural factors which must be taken into account, like political culture and tradition, term-lengths, scruity right, etc.
here is not time and place to elaborate on these, however . let us instead take a look back at the institution norms pertaining to the position of mayor, and the way mayors go about their role. this is also a field which has been subject to efforts of institutional reform in local government in European countries.
there has, for several reasons, in many countries been a desire to strengthen the political governance capacity in local government. one is the fiscal stress experienced in the eighties and early nineties (see example Susan E. Clarke 1989) in the face of fiscal austerity and increasing demands from citizens' as well as national authorities, local politician have been called upon to provide political leadership and make strict priorities. this more or less goes together with new public management doctrines about public sector organisation and the way such organisations should be led;