Jinfo: Election Cycles Primer: How and When People Come to Office

Election Cycles Primer: How and When People Come to Office
Jinfo Blog

1st November 2006

Abstract

Ink-smudged fingers and hanging chads may be local icons of election time, but their outcomes can reverberate around the world. November marks mid-term election time in the United States, and although the elections are local, the outcomes make a marked difference in domestic and foreign policy.

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But just what is a mid-term election? And how often are they held? Do other countries have mid-terms? FreePint wondered about election cycles around the globe, so we pinpointed five spots on the map and asked experts to demystify the local elections. The primer below will serve as a launching point for more involved research on the United States, Canada, Russia, China and Iran.

United States

Elections in the United States are held at the national, state and local level. At the federal (national) level, the election of the president and vice president takes place every fourth year (in years divisible by 4: 2000, 2004, 2008, etc.). Winning a presidential election is based on receiving a majority in the Electoral College rather than the popular vote.

Elections to Congress, the national legislative body, are held in each even-numbered year (2000, 2002, 2004, etc.) with all 435 members of the House of Representatives, who serve 2-year terms, and approximately one-third of the 100 Senators, who serve 6-year terms, elected. The President is constitutionally limited to two terms, but there are no term limits for members of the House and Senate.

State-level elections are typically, but not always, held in even- numbered, non-presidential election years (1998, 2002, 2006) to elect the governor and other state officers, such as lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer and secretary of state, as well as the state legislature.

Local elections are held in municipalities, counties, townships and special districts to select a wide variety of positions, including mayors, city council members, county commissioners, county councilmen, township trustees, school board members, sheriffs, prosecutors, police chiefs and, in some cases, judges. Policies regarding length of term, term limits and the election cycle for state and local offices vary among the 50 states. General elections, described above, are typically preceded by primary elections to select the party candidates.

Learn more:

David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections <http://www.uselectionatlas.org/>
Office of the Federal Register's U.S. Electoral College <http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/>
Key Races in the Mid-Term Elections from washingtonpost.com <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/elections/keyraces/map/>

[Thomas E. Nisonger is a Professor at the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.]

Canada

Canada has three levels of government: federal, provincial and municipal, each with its own election cycles. There are no limits to the number of terms a politician may serve.

At the federal level, Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected for a term of up to five years, although elections are traditionally held every four years and may be called by the governing party at any time. In Canada's parliamentary democracy system, the political party with the most MPs forms the government and the party's leader becomes the Prime Minister or head of the government; the head of state is the sovereign of Britain, represented in Canada for ceremonial purposes by a Governor General.

Election cycles at the provincial and municipal levels vary between three and five years. Provincial governments are, like their federal counterpart, limited by custom to 4-year terms but may call an election at any time before their mandates expire. In most cases, municipal election dates are fixed and municipal governance structures are not based on the parliamentary model.

It is worth noting that Ontario, the largest and most populous of the Canadian provinces, has recently moved to set election dates every four years for both levels of government in the province.

Learn more:

Canada Votes from CBC <http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/>
By-Elections 2006 <http://www.elections.ca/>
"Canada Conservatives win election" from BBC <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4641954.stm>

[Glen Stone is Public Affairs Manager for the Toronto Board of Trade, Canada's largest chamber of commerce, and a former senior communications adviser to the Premier and Government of Ontario.]

The Russian Federation (Russia)

Russia is a federation of 89 jurisdictions. It has only existed as a country since 1991 and like many parts of its political processes, the electoral system is still evolving.

The president is head of state and elected in March every four years. Vladimir Putin currently holds the position, having won a second term in March 2004. A maximum of two terms can be served, so he will not run in the March 2008 elections.

The Russian legislature is bicameral, with the State Duma and the Federal Council its upper and lower houses. The 450 members of the Duma are elected every four years, usually in December. The next election day is 2 December 2007. The 178 members of the Federal Council are not directly elected. Each of the 89 jurisdictions puts forward two members -- one selected by the legislature, the other by the governor. Terms of office are determined according to the regions they represent.

In 2005 the election laws were modified. One of the changes was the introduction of two fixed voting days for local and regional elections -- the second Sundays in March and October. These 'Super Sundays' arewhen city mayors, town councils and regional parliaments are elected.

Learn more:

Library of Congress's Russia country profile <http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Russia.pdf>
Russia Votes <http://www.russiavotes.org/>
CIA World Factbook: Russia

[Anne Jordan <anne.jordan@virgin.net> is a freelance business information professional, researcher and writer, mainly within financial services and management consultancy. She holds a degree in both German and Russian.]

The People's Republic of China

China aims to strike a balance between socialism and communism. Its political system is governed by 66.4-million-member Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Political processes are guided by two constitutions -- one from the CCP and one from the state. Representatives from both are elected by lower bodies, which elect their administrative arms.

The National Peoples Congress (NPC) elects a president and vice president for 5-year terms with a limit of two consecutive terms. Jiang Zemin, the former party, state and military leader of the country, officially ceded power to Hu Jintao in 2004. Hu is now chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission, general secretary of the CCP and president of China, although Jiang and his supporters are still involved in party and state policymaking.

Elections for deputies to the NPC are held within villages and provinces and the Special Administrative Regions (SARs), which include Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The SARs are governed under different laws. Elections are normally are held at least two months before the end of the current NPC, and deputies serve 5-year terms.

China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have held elections since 2003, but on no regular schedule. Voters aged 18 and over may register, but they may be challenged for qualification by locals. In most provinces, the use of a polling booth is mandatory, however some provinces use a mass-voting system.

No parties other than the CCP and the eight members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were allowed at the last elections, which took place from October 2002 to March 2003.

Learn more:

Library of Congress's Legal Guide to China <http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/china.html>
Elections in the People's Republic of China from Wikipedia <http://digbig.com/4nrdy>
China Elections and Governance <http://www.chinaelections.org/en/>

[Jane Macoustra, Tai-Pan Research, is a freelance researcher who worked in Hong Kong for over 2 years. She has 26 years' experience in the fields of oil and gas; law and compliance; and investment banking and finance. Jane is the current president of the SLA Asian Chapter.]

Iran

The December 1979 constitution and its 1989 amendment define the political, economic and social order of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The government system does not claim to be secular and power is spread between branch divisions. The Iranian governmental system includes a supreme leader, an executive branch, a legislative branch, a judicial branch, an assembly of experts and diverse political groups, which are elected at a national level. City and Village Council elections are held every four years.

The Assembly of Experts is comprised of 86 clerics elected by adult suffrage for eight-year terms. The Legislative Council of Guardians deciphers the eligibility of these candidates.

The supreme leader of Iran, elected by the assembly of experts, is responsible for the delineation and supervision of general policies. He is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, military intelligence and has sole power to declare war. The president has the highest authority after the supreme leader and is elected for a four-year term by the people. The president is elected by a universal-suffrage electoral system in which citizens are eligible to vote at the age of 15.

The Council of Guardians comprises 12 jurists, including six appointed by the supreme leader, and interprets the constitution. The Majles, or parliament, is comprised of 290 members elected for four year terms. This body drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties and approves the national budget.

Almost six years ago, Iran's sixth general election produced a situation new to the Islamic Republic's then 21-year history. For the first time it had a legislature and president committed to reforms and the creation of a civil society. The Iranian presidential election of 2005 was the ninth presidential election in Iranian history and took place in two rounds. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is believed to have won the second round because of his populist views with regard to improving the social condition of the poor.

The president has generally feeble support among the clergy system in the Islamic Republic. The Assembly of Experts election on 15 December 2006 is significant because it could shift the balance of power between the faction of conservatives led by former President Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and the radical faction represented by Ayatollah Yazdi.

Learn more:

Iranian presidential election, 2005, from Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_presidential_election,_2005>
"The Cheat Sheet: The Iranian Election" <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2864>
"Guide to Researching Iran And Its 2000 Elections" <http://meria.idc.ac.il/research-g/iran-elections.html>

[Dr. Amaal V.E. Tokars has spent her professional career working in the diverse arena of human services and is the author of the upcoming book "America & Iraq: Seduced by Fear".]

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