The race is on for an elected Mayor of London. Arch-rivals Livingstone, Dobson and Archer will scrap it out for a post which promises power, influence and real clout.

A similar system is being mooted for other British cities, including Oxford. And opinion is so far divided over the Lord Mayor's chain: should it remain a ceremonial piece of jewellery or become a symbol of democratically-elected power?

Oxford City Council claims it doesn't want to focus too much power in one person, preferring a Westminster-style cabinet approach. But a new campaign group spearheaded by former Lord Mayor John Power, some councillors and the business community, favours the US system, which avoids party control and makes "local government relevant to local electors".

The debate has fascinated the Mayor of Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke, who visited Oxford this week. He said: "In our American tradition, the citizens enjoy holding someone accountable rather than a committee."

He has been pleasing the people for 12 years, and shared this experience with politicians and academics at an Oxford conference on Tuesday. He said: "A strong mayor makes specific promises to be elected and must fulfil them to be re-elected. Theoretically, it gets more done, though a very effective council could also get results."

The adjective strong has nothing to do with character strength or bullying ability, however.

"A weak mayor has a more ceremonial role and remains a member of the council, much like Oxford's current system. A professional manager is hired to handle the day-to-day operations. A strong mayor is chief executive officer, essentially the boss," said Kurt, who falls into this category. "Strong mayors are usually responsible for housing, sanitation and safety, sometimes education too. This generally allows for easier solutions to problems.

"Committees can suffer from what we call the 'paralysis of analysis'. Instead of making a plan, they debate endlessly. The problem lingers and festers in a stalemate."

Surprisingly, the renowned Rudolph Giuliani, Mayor of New York City, is a blend of strong and weak mayor. "His personality exerts more influence than he has legally," Kurt said. "Mayor Daley in Chicago is like that too.

"Term limits can help curb the cult of personality. Giuliani can only run for two four-year terms." It isn't all glory though. US mayors frequently end up the scapegoat for problems.

"The fate of a city is affected a great deal of the time by the strength of the national economy.

"Sometimes a strong mayor makes promises - but the money is not there to accomplish anything," Kurt said.

At other times the Federal Government changes policies which undermine election pledges - but Kurt reckons it's the mayor who gets the blame.

Under the right conditions though, mayors can really take care of business. "If you have the resources, you can make significant change," Kurt said. Although "the good days outweighed the bad", Kurt is stepping down and joining a law firm. This is not, he stresses, a criticism of the job.

As for Oxford's decision, he admitted that "much can be said about wearing the chain". Then his genial smile faded slightly, and his voice took on a warning tone: "You can't take a foreign system and impose it without understanding the area's history.

"There's no easy answer."

Story date: Friday 29 October

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.