Global election terms

While the advocacy group Democracy Watch claims that Prime Minister Stephen Harper violated his own fixed-date election law by calling an election in 2008, Global News takes a look at fixed and open election terms around the world.

Canada

The Canadian system imposes no limits on the length of time prime ministers can serve, or the number of terms they can serve.

Canadian election laws state the governor general dissolves Parliament, but this is done on the advice of the prime minister. While the GG has the final say, they have typically conceded to the Prime Minister’s wishes.

In 2007, Canadian election law was amended to include fixed federal election dates. The next was scheduled for October 2009, and then at successive four-year intervals.

But in September 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked Governor General Michaelle Jean to dissolve Parliament, claiming the opposition parties weren’t prepared to support his legislative agenda. Jean agreed, and Canadians went to the polls on October 14.

Great Britain

As in the Canadian system of parliamentary democracy, the British system imposes no term limits on prime ministers, who are essentially able to determine the timing of elections.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair won three consecutive elections and was in office for 10 years before stepping down in 2007.

Italy

The Italian system has a president who is elected for seven-year terms, but there is no limit on how many terms can be served.

The president appoints a prime minister who must be approved by parliament. This has historically been a difficult process since there are many small parties in the country.

The electoral system in Italy tends to produce fragmented coalitions, which have proved to be relatively unstable. In February 2008, Italians saw the collapse of the 61st government in the 63 years since the end of the Second World War.

Japan

Prime Ministers in Japan have no limits on their tenure and can run for an unlimited number of terms. However, the Liberal Democratic Party, one of the most successful parties in the country’s history, limits the tenure of its leaders.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was elected the leader of the LDP in 2001, and led the party to win the parliamentary election that year. He was forced to step down in 2006 after five years in office, due to LDP term limits.

Despite the lack of limits on terms, most Japanese PMs stay in office for an average of two years. Since the Second World War there have been 25 prime ministers, and none has served more than one term.

United States

The U.S. has fixed terms of office, with the president elected every four years. During the Second World War, Franklin Roosevelt was elected four successive times between 1932 and 1944. But Congress then approved a law that limited a president to two elected terms.

The length of terms served by U.S. presidents can only be cut short by death, resignation or removal from office.