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Mayors as local leaders - a systematic literature review on European mayor research

Anni Jäntti et al.

Local Government Studies2026https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2026.2632134article
AJG 2ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This article presents a systematic literature review on European research on the mayoral model as a local management system. As our research strategy, we utilised the PRISMA guidelines and researcher triangulation. Through multiple screening phases, a total of 73 articles were chosen and included in the final qualitative analysis to create a thematic synthesis on the predominant themes. The research on European mayors was divided into two main categories: the mayoral model as an institutional system and mayoral governance relations. In addition to these main categories, our analysis identified two cross-cutting themes: the reform perspective and the democracy perspective. Our thematic synthesis provides a multidimensional view of the evolution of mayoral models over the past two decades, revealing a common strategy to address various challenges by strengthening the mayor’s role and powers, both institutionally and in leadership capabilities.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2026.2632134

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@article{anni2026,
  title        = {{Mayors as local leaders - a systematic literature review on European mayor research}},
  author       = {Anni Jäntti et al.},
  journal      = {Local Government Studies},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2026.2632134},
}

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Mayors as local leaders - a systematic literature review on European mayor research

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.