Rules for, and experience with, local elections vary widely across jurisdictions. In those electoral systems that roughly follow the British parliamentary model, a terminology has evolved with roles such as Mayor or Warden to describe the executive of a city or town or region, and Reeve, Alderman or Councillor to describe the legislators who deliberate decisions. However, job descriptions vary so widely across jurisdictions that these terms do not effectively describe the various ways in which local election campaigns and means of election vary. In law, jurisdiction refers to the aspect of a any unique legal authority as being localized within boundaries. ... A mayor (from the Latin maīor, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... ... A reeve (Old English gerefa) was an Anglo-Saxon official of high rank, exerting local jurisdiction. ... An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. ... A councillor is a member of a council (such as a city council), particularly in the U.K., Canada, and its former colonies. ... ζōA legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. ...

In an emerging democracy, for example, there may be little information on candidates' relationships or conflict of interest, or this may simply not be important compared to getting influential people into government so they can argue out their issues there, instead of in the streets with guns. Local election procedures may involve a great deal of protest and street violence and may not be very predictable. If campaign finance laws exist they are unenforced or unenforceable, and a "strongman" may emerge to simply bully others into line with their civic agenda. If any civic best practice is put into effect it is based on the personality of one person or a very few strong people. Emergent democracy refers to the Internet phenomenon change of the geopolitical landscape to increasingly reflect more democratic principles. ... A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, a politician, or an executive or director of a corporation, has competing professional and/or personal interests. ... Demonstrators march in the street while protesting the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on April 16, 2005. ... Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for political election campaigns. ... A strongman is a political leader who rules by force and runs a authoritarian regime. ...

Political careers are usually made at the local level: Boris Yeltsin, for instance, as the top official in Moscow, was able to prove his effectiveness and eventually take the job of President of Russia after the collapse of the USSR. When he fought his first contested local election, he demonstrated a willingness to put his policies to the ballot - a test few Soviet leaders would have passed. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin listen ▶(?) (Russian: Борис Николаевич Ельцин) (born February 1, 1931) was President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: ▶(?)) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva. ... Flag of the President of Russia The President of Russia (ru: Президент России) is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ...

In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, local elections have proven to be easier to achieve than larger scale ones that affect the national or federal government. By giving voice to people on the smaller scales of government, over such issues as water supply, power, and sewer systems, confidence is thought to be built to eventually reform higher levels of government.

In more mature developed nations there is always an effort to get more information about candidates and options to people, and to keep the influence of larger national bodies like a political party to a minimum, as its ideological agenda is not typically that of any locality: A developed country is a country that is technologically advanced and that enjoys a relatively high standard of living. ... A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ...

In the UK there is a movement towards standardization of local issues forums for e-democracy that would likely lead to much clearer and functional standards for the roles of various players in local elections. E-democracy (a neologism and contraction of electronic democracy) is the utilization of electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy. ...

In the US there is more focus on electoral reform including a call for instant runoff voting to be used to select all major executives. This is thought to make it possible for small parties to compete, as in the case of Matt Gonzalez in San Francisco, CA. Such a ballot reform is often a complement to moving towards a Strong Mayor system, such as in Baltimore, MD or as recently advocated in Oakland, CA. Electoral reform projects seek to change the way that public desires are reflected in elections through electoral systems. ... When the single transferable vote voting system is applied to a single-winner election it is sometimes called instant-runoff voting (IRV), as it is much like holding a series of runoff elections in which the lowest polling candidate is eliminated in each round until someone receives majority vote. ... This article is about the city in California. ... This article is about the city in the US state of Maryland. ... Aerial view looking west over downtown Oakland, Lake Merritt and the Port of Oakland in the upper left portion of the image. ...