Fixed-term election
Encyclopedia
A Fixed-term election is an election
that occurs on a set date, and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician.
Fixed-term elections are common for most mayor
s and for directly elected governor
s and president
s, but less common for prime minister
s and parliament
s in a parliamentary system
of government.
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
that occurs on a set date, and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician.
Fixed-term elections are common for most mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
s and for directly elected governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
s and president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
s, but less common for prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
s and parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
s in a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
of government.
Examples
- Presidential elections in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
occur every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. - Elections to the European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
occur every five years in June. The exact date depends on the conventions of each country. - While CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
historically followed parliamentary tradition, the federal government and several provinces have now implemented fixed-term elections although the federal law still allows elections to be held before the end of a term if the government loses the confidence of the house or the governor general is advised to dissolve parliamentDissolution of parliamentIn parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
. - NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
are rare cases where the parliament that chooses the cabinet serves an absolutely fixed (invariable) term. Note that the Swiss parliament, unlike the Norwegian one (but like the US Congress), cannot remove the executive government in mid-term via a no-confidence vote. - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, and the Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryThe Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
(ACT) have semi-fixed terms in that dissolution at any time in mid-term is allowed only to resolve a serious deadlock. In Germany, in 1982-83 and again in 2005, the incumbent Chancellor manipulated this provision by arranging for MPs from his own side to support a no-confidence motion to obtain an early election. The German Federal Constitutional CourtFederal Constitutional Court of GermanyThe Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
controversially allowed this manoeuvre but warned that it might block a future dissolution of the BundestagBundestagThe Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
that went against the spirit of the German constitutionBasic Law for the Federal Republic of GermanyThe Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies of World War II on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May, as the constitution of those states of West Germany that were initially included...
. - The Australian SenateAustralian SenateThe Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
has a semi-fixed term that can be cut short only by a double dissolutionDouble dissolutionA double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
under Section 57 of the Australian constitutionConstitution of AustraliaThe Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
, used if there is a prolonged deadlock over a BillBill (proposed law)A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
supported by the Australian House of RepresentativesAustralian House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
. After a double dissolutionDouble dissolutionA double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
election, to restore rotationRotationA rotation is a circular movement of an object around a center of rotation. A three-dimensional object rotates always around an imaginary line called a rotation axis. If the axis is within the body, and passes through its center of mass the body is said to rotate upon itself, or spin. A rotation...
, newly elected Senators' terms are backdated to the previous 1 July so that they serve two or five years instead of the normal six years. The House of Representatives has a maximum of only three years but no minimum, so elections for the two houses sometimes get out of synch. - In the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 fixes the General Election on the first Thursday in May every five years.
See also
- Fixed election dates in CanadaFixed election dates in CanadaIn Canada, some Canadian jurisdictions have passed legislation fixing election dates, so that elections occur on a more regular cycle and the date of a forthcoming election is publicly known...
- List of democracy and elections-related topics