Boston uses a strong-mayor form of government in which the city council acts as a check against the power of the executive branch, the mayor.

Any person seeking to become a City Councillor in Boston must meet the following requirements: Prior to 1909, Boston's legislative body was bicameral, with an eight-member Board of Aldermen as well as a Common Council made up of three representatives from each of the 25 wards in the city.

The procedure was changed again by Chapter 356 of the Acts of 1951, which provided for the election of nine city councillors, all at large, for two-year terms.

[4] Public hearings over possible district boundaries were full of heated debate between advocates of drawing lines to protect neighborhood unity and advocates of drawing lines to create two predominantly minority districts and give minorities a voice in local government.

Many residents were opposed to both divisions, stating that they would increase racial segregation in Dorchester and continue the political powerlessness of minorities.

[7] A more complicated split taking into account areas with large minority populations would create one predominantly minority district and one predominantly white district but treat Dorchester as several smaller neighborhoods to be divvied up among surrounding neighborhoods rather than as one community.

[5] Two days before the 90-day deadline, freshman councillor Terrence McDermott, who had been appointed as Sansone's replacement for chair of the districting committee, presented a plan to the Council which was approved 7–2 (the dissenting votes came from Raymond Flynn and Bruce Bolling).

By law, Boston municipal elections are nonpartisan in that candidates do not represent a specific political party.

"[14] Three presidents of the Boston City Council have served as acting mayors of Boston for extended periods after the Mayor vacated the office: In June 2021, the city council granted itself the authority to remove its president by a two-thirds majority vote.

In June 2018, the Council voted to increase the salary of the mayor from $199,000 to $207,000, effective after the mayoral election of November 2021 (term starting in January 2022); this increased the salary of councillors to $103,500, effective after the council elections of November 2019 (terms starting in January 2020).