National legislation and practical examples of local recall show that a number of common features may be observed:

- the recall by popular vote is provided by the legislation of a limited number of today’s democracies; there is no general trend concerning the authorities which can be recalled: some countries provide for recall at all levels, some at national level only, others at regional or local level, with no (statistical) preference either for recall of executive officials or members of assemblies (representative bodies) or of the assemblies as a whole (Latvia, Liechtenstein);
- Recall is rarely used in practice except in a few countries (Romania for the President of the Republic; for regional and (mostly) local executive authorities, in Europe: Poland and Slovakia; outside Europe: Peru, United States, Ecuador and Japan);
- the recall is, as a rule, associated with the direct election by the voters and there are virtually no examples of recall by electors of officials who are not elected by direct vote; this is true not only for members of legislative or deliberative assemblies – which are commonly elected directly – but also for executive officials, including mayors;
- there are some examples of national/subnational systems where members of regional or local councils, whose mandate is the result of popular vote, may be the subject of recall; in some cases, the recall may concern the regional or municipal council as a whole, in others, individual members of the council;
- where mayors are not directly elected by the local population, preference is given to a system, closer to the logic of a representative system, of a no-confidence motion, enabling the local council to decide on the early termination of the mayor’s mandate;