Justice

The Best Mayoral Photo Ops of the Year

Around the world, mayors are more powerful than ever. But they still have to pose for lots of weird pictures.

There is indeed a growing global movement to give mayors more power, or, if you will, to let them rule the world instead of so many faltering national governments—but forget all that for now. No, today we're here to focus on a decidedly less lofty, more nitty-gritty aspect of what it meant to be a mayor in 2014. Because unlike presidents, the world's mayors regularly walk among the people. They stop and chat. They shake hands and kiss babies. And above all, they pose for far weirder pictures than any other top elected official.