The Atlanta city government, like that in other U.S. cities, is divided into three bodies: the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Each authority acts as a check and balance on the other, in a similar way to government at the state and federal levels.The Atlanta mayor serves as the chief executive and runs the government departments. The council serves as the local legislature. It is made up 12 members elected by district, and six members elected at large. The president of the city council presides at all meetings of the council and votes in case of a tie. He also appoints chairs and members of the various committees, where the real work of putting together legislation -- called ordinances and resolutions -- takes place. His decisions can be changed by a majority of the council. Both the mayor and city council members are elected to four-year terms.
Citizens of Atlanta have an opportunity to appear before the council committees and express their views about proposed legislation. In some cases, the council is required by law to hold public hearings and must notify the public of such hearings before legislation can be finalized. As is commonplace in many other jurisdictions in the United States, the mayor can either approve or veto legislation. If vetoed, the council can override, but only with a two-thirds vote.
Before 1974, all council members were elected at large in Atlanta. That is still the case in some U.S. cities. The proponents of at least a number of seats on local councils being set aside to represent districts, rather than having all seats at large, argue the system is preferable in two important respects: one, it fosters better constituency service; and, two, it promotes minority representation in cases where a particular group may be a minority in the city as a whole, but not in a particular district.
On the judicial side, just as laws passed at the federal level are sometimes overturned by the federal courts on constitutional grounds, actions taken by local and state executives and legislatures also are subject to review by local and state courts.
The Atlanta Regional Commission, the body responsible for a coordinated approach to problems and issues in the Atlanta metro area, includes representatives from all the jurisdictions in the vicinity, including the mayor of Atlanta, each county commission chairman in the region, 15 private citizens, and one nonvoting member from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, a state agency.