Phoenix has a form of government called the council-manager plan.
The Phoenix City Council is made up of the mayor and eight council members. Each council member is elected by the people from an area of the city called a council district, to represent the people of that district. The mayor is elected at-large, which means that the mayor is elected by people all over the city. The mayor is in charge of council meetings and is looked to as the leader of the whole city. The mayor and council members have the job of setting policy for the city.