Portelli, Hugues <br/><br/>
The Administrative Foundations of a Political Office 

 -  2014.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 79 
<br/><br/> In France, mayors represent primarily an administrative authority. Their prerogatives are those of an agent of the state before being those of the executive branch of a territorial authority. The administrative structure of the municipality allows mayors to accumulate extended powers, either in their own capacity or delegated by another authority, without any real system of checks and balances.