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Aterm of office,electoral term, orparliamentary term is the length of time a person serves in a particularelected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject tore-election. Some jurisdictions exerciseterm limits, setting a maximum number of terms an individual may hold in a particular office.
| Heads of state | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Upper houses | |||||||
 | |||||||
| Lower houses | |||||||
 | |||||||
| Legend | |||||||
| <3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | >7 | |
| Not applicable | Unclear | Varies | Until removed or decease (if a Monarch) | ||||
Numbers in years unless stated otherwise. Some countries wherefixed-term elections are uncommon, the legislature is almost always dissolved earlier than its expiry date. "Until removed from office" refers to offices that do not have fixed terms; in these cases, the officeholder(s) may serve indefinitely until death, abdication, resignation, retirement, or forcible removal from office (such asimpeachment).
In most cases where thehead of government is a different person from the head of state, its term of office is identical to the chamber that elected it (the legislature if it is unicameral, or most usually thelower house if it is bicameral), unless it does not survive avote of no confidence.
| Country | Head of state | Members of theupper house[a] | Members of thelower house |
|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan | Until removed from office | — | — |
 Albania | 5 | — | 4 |
 Algeria | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Andorra | Until removed from office(Bishop of Urgel) 5 (President of France) | — | 4 |
 Angola | 5 | — | 5 |
 Antigua and Barbuda | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Argentina | 4 | 6 | 4 |
 Armenia | 7[1] | — | 5 |
 Australia | Until removed from office | 6 | 3 |
 Austria | 6 | 4 to 6 | 5 |
 Azerbaijan | 7 | — | 5 |
 Bahamas | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Bahrain | Until removed from office | 4 | 4 |
 Bangladesh | 5 | — | 5 |
 Barbados | 4 | 5 | 5 |
 Belarus | 5 | 4 | 4 |
 Belgium | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Belize | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Benin | 5 | — | 5 |
 Bhutan | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Bolivia | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4[b] | 4 | 4 |
 Botswana | 5 | — | 5 |
 Brazil | 4 | 8 | 4 |
 Bulgaria | 5 | — | 4 |
 Burkina Faso | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Burundi | 7 | 5 | 5 |
 Brunei | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Cambodia | Until removed from office | 6 | 5 |
 Cameroon | 7 | 5 | 5 |
 Canada | Until removed from office | Until removed from office | 4 |
 Cape Verde | 5 | — | 5 |
 Central African Republic | 5 | — | 5 |
 Chad | 6 | — | 5[2] |
 Chile | 4 | 8 | 4 |
 China | 5 | — | 5 |
 Republic of China | 4 | — | 4 |
 Colombia | 4 | 4 | 4 |
 Congo | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Comoros | 5 | — | 5 |
 Ivory Coast | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Costa Rica | 4 | — | 4 |
 Croatia | 5 | — | 4 |
 Cuba | 5 | — | 5 |
 Cyprus | 5 | — | 5 |
 Czech Republic | 5 | 6 | 4 |
 DR Congo | 5 | 5 | 5[3] |
 Denmark | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Djibouti | 5 | — | 5 |
 Dominica | 5 | — | 5 |
 Dominican Republic | 4 | 4 | 4 |
 Ecuador | 4 | — | 4 |
 Egypt | 6 | 5 | 5 |
 El Salvador | 5 | — | 3 |
 Equatorial Guinea | 7 | — | 5 |
 Eritrea | Until removed from office | — | Until removed from office |
 Estonia | 5 | — | 4 |
 Eswatini | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Ethiopia | 6 | — | 5 |
 Fiji | 3 | — | 4 |
 Finland | 6 | — | 4 |
 France | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Gabon | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Gambia | 5 | — | 5 |
 Georgia | 5 | — | 4 |
 Germany | 5 | 4 to 5 | 4 |
 Ghana | 4 | — | 4 |
 Greece | 5 | — | 4 |
 Grenada | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Guatemala | 4 | — | 4 |
 Guinea | 5 | — | 5 |
 Guinea-Bissau | 5 | — | 5 |
 Guyana | 5 | — | 5 |
 Haiti | 5 | 6 | 4 |
 Honduras | 4 | — | 4 |
 Hungary | 5 | — | 4 |
 Iceland | 4 | — | 4 |
 India | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Indonesia | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Iran | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Iraq | 4 | — | 4 |
 Ireland | 7 | 5 | 5 |
 Israel | 7 | — | 4 |
 Italy[c] | 7 | 5 | 5 |
 Jamaica | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Japan | Until removed from office | 6 | 4 |
 Jordan | Until removed from office | 4 | 4 |
 Kazakhstan | 7 | 6 | 5 |
 Kenya | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Kiribati | 4 | — | 4 |
 Kosovo | 5 | — | 4 |
 Kuwait | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Kyrgyzstan | 5 | — | 5 |
 Laos | 5 | — | 5 |
 Latvia | 4 | — | 4 |
 Lebanon | 6 | — | 4 |
 Libya | Until removed from office | Until removed from office | Until removed from office |
 Lesotho | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Liberia | 6 | 9 | 6 |
 Liechtenstein | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Lithuania | 5 | — | 4 |
 Luxembourg | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 North Macedonia | 5 | — | 4 |
 Madagascar | 5 | 5 | 5[5] |
 Malawi | 5 | — | 5 |
 Malaysia | 5 | 3 | 5 |
 Maldives | 5 | — | 5 |
 Mali | 5 | — | 5 |
 Malta | 5 | — | 5 |
 Marshall Islands | 4 | — | 4 |
 Mauritania | 5 | — | 5 |
 Mauritius | 5 | — | 5 |
 Mexico | 6 | 6 | 3 |
 Micronesia | 4 | 4 | 2 |
 Monaco | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Mongolia | 6 | — | 4 |
 Moldova | 4 | — | 4 |
 Montenegro | 5 | — | 4 |
 Morocco | Until removed from office | 6 | 5 |
 Mozambique | 5 | — | 5 |
 Myanmar | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Namibia | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Nauru | 3 | — | 3 |
 Nepal | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Netherlands | Until removed from office | 4 | 4 |
 New Zealand | Until removed from office | — | 3 |
 Nicaragua | 5 | — | 5 |
 Nigeria | 4 | 4 | 4 |
 Niger | 5 | — | 5 |
 North Korea | 5 | — | 5 |
 Norway | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Oman | Until removed from office | 4 | 4 |
 Pakistan | 5 | 6 | 5 |
 Palau | 4 | 4 | 4 |
 Palestine | 4 | — | 4 |
 Panama | 5 | — | 5 |
 Papua New Guinea | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Paraguay | 5 | 5* | 5 |
 Peru | 5 | — | 5 |
 Philippines | 6 | 6 | 3 |
 Poland | 5 | 4 | 4 |
 Portugal | 5 | — | 4 |
 Qatar | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Romania | 5 | 4 | 4 |
 Russia | 6 | — | 5 |
 Rwanda | 5 | — | 5 |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Saint Lucia | Until removed from office | 5 | 5 |
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Samoa | 5 | — | 5 |
 San Marino | 0.5 (6 months) | — | 5 |
 São Tomé and Príncipe | 5 | — | 4 |
 Saudi Arabia | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Senegal | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Serbia | 5 | — | 4 |
 Seychelles | 5 | — | 5 |
 Sierra Leone | 5 | — | 5 |
 Singapore | 6 | — | 5 |
 Slovakia | 5 | — | 4 |
 Slovenia | 5 | 5 | 4 |
 Solomon Islands | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Somalia | 4 | — | 4 |
 South Africa | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 South Korea | 5 | — | 4 |
 South Sudan | 5[6] | Unknown | 5 |
 Spain | Until removed from office | 4 | 4 |
 Sri Lanka | 5 | — | 5 |
 Sudan | Until removed from office | Until removed from office | Until removed from office |
 Suriname | 5 | — | 5 |
 Sweden | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Switzerland | 4[d] | 4 | 4 |
 Syria | 7 | — | 4 |
 Tajikistan | 7 | 5 | 5 |
 Tanzania | 5 | — | 5 |
 Thailand | Until removed from office | 5 | 4 |
 Timor-Leste | 5 | — | 5 |
 Togo | 5 | — | 5 |
 Tonga | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Tunisia | 5 | — | 5 |
 Turkey | 5 | — | 5 |
 Turkmenistan | 7 | — | 5 |
 Tuvalu | Until removed from office | — | 4 |
 Uganda | 5 | — | 5 |
 Ukraine | 5 | — | 4 |
 United Arab Emirates | 5 | — | 4 |
 United Kingdom | Until removed from office | Until removed from office | 5 |
 United States | 4 | 6 | 2 |
 Uruguay | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Uzbekistan | 7 | 5 | 5 |
 Vanuatu | 5 | — | 4 |
 Vatican City | Until removed from office | — | 5 |
 Venezuela | 6 | — | 5 |
 Vietnam | 5 | — | 5 |
 Yemen | 7 | — | 6 |
 Zambia | 5 | — | 5 |
 Zimbabwe | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Being the origin of theWestminster system, aspects of theUnited Kingdom's system of government are replicated in many other countries.
Themonarch serves as head of state until their death orabdication.
In theUnited Kingdom Members of Parliament (MPs) in theHouse of Commons are elected for the duration of the parliament. Followingdissolution of the Parliament, ageneral election is held which consists of simultaneous elections for all seats. For most MPs this means that their terms of office are identical to the duration of the Parliament. An individual's term may be cut short by death orresignation. An MP elected in aby-election mid-way through a Parliament, regardless of how long they have occupied the seat, is not exempt from facingre-election at the next general election.
TheSeptennial Act 1715 provided that a Parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned; this maximum period was reduced to five years by theParliament Act 1911. Prior to theFixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 parliaments had no minimum duration. Parliaments could be dissolved early by the monarch at theprime minister's request. Early dissolutions occurred when the make-up of Parliament made forming government impossible (as occurred in1974), or, more commonly, when the incumbent government reasoned an early general election would improve their re-election chances (e.g.2001). The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 mandated that Parliaments should last their full five years; early dissolution remained possible but under much more limited circumstances. However, the act was repealed in 2022 and replaced with theDissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, which restored the pre-2011 constitutional situation.
Because thegovernment andprime minister are effectivelyindirectly elected through the Commons, the terms of Parliaments and MPs do not directly apply to offices of government, though in practice these are affected by changes in Parliament. While, strictly speaking, a prime minister whose incumbency spans multiple Parliaments only serves one, unbroken, term of office, some writers may refer to the different Parliaments as separate terms.[7]
Hereditary peers andlife peers retain membership of theHouse of Lords for life, though members can resign or be expelled.Lords Spiritual hold membership of the House of Lords until the end of their time as bishops, though a senior bishop may be made a life peer upon the end of their bishopric (e.g.George Carey, madeBaron Carey of Clifton the day after he ceased beingArchbishop of Canterbury).
Thedevolved administrations inScotland,Wales andNorthern Ireland are variations on the system of government used atWestminster.
The office of the leader of the devolved administrations has no numeric term limit imposed upon it. However, in the case of theScottish Government and theWelsh Government there are fixed terms for which thelegislatures can sit. This is imposed at five years. Elections may be held before this time but only if no administration can be formed, which has not happened yet.
Offices oflocal government other regional elected officials follow similar rules to the national offices discussed above, with persons elected to fixed terms of a few years.
In theUnited States, thepresident of the United States is elected indirectly through theUnited States Electoral College to a four-year term, with aterm limit of two terms (totaling eight years) or a maximum of ten years if the president acted as president for two years or less in a term where another was elected as president, imposed by theTwenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1951.
TheVice President also serves four-year terms but without any term limit.U.S. Representatives serve two-year terms.U.S. Senators serve six-year terms.
Federal judges have different terms in office.Article I judges; such as those that sit on theUnited States bankruptcy courts,United States Tax Court, andUnited States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and certain otherfederal courts and other forms ofadjudicative bodies serve limited terms: The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces for 15 years, bankruptcy courts for 14. However, the majority of the federal judiciary, Article III judges (such as those of theSupreme Court,courts of appeal, andfederal district courts), serve for life.
The terms of office for officials in state governments varies according to the provisions ofstate constitutions andstate law.
The term forstate governors is four years in all states butVermont andNew Hampshire; theVermont andNew Hampshire governors serve for two years.
TheNational Conference of State Legislatures reported in January 2007 that amongstate legislatures:[8]
Amongterritories of the United States:
Members ofCouncil of the District of Columbia serve a four-year term.
As a former British territory following theWestminster System, there are many similarities with the United Kingdom, although with some variations based on local customs, the federal system of government and the absentee monarch.
Being aCommonwealth realm, Canada shares amonarch with the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, who serves as head of state of all 15 realms until his or her death or abdication.
Thegovernor general is appointed by the monarch as his/her personal representative on the advice of theprime minister, and servesfor an indefinite term, though the normal convention is 5 years. Similarly, thelieutenant governors, who represent the monarch at the provincial level, are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister (usually also with consultation of the relevant provincialpremier), and generally also serve 5 year terms by convention. The territories havecommissioners, who are not representatives of the monarch, but are instead appointed by and represent thegovernor-in-council (i.e. thefederal cabinet), and conventionally serve for about 5 years.
Similar to the United Kingdom, MPs serve for the duration of the Parliament. They may resign before the end of a Parliament or be elected inby-elections during the middle of a Parliament.
Under theConstitution Act, 1867, a Parliament may last for a maximum of 5 years from the most recent election before expiring, although all Parliaments to date have been dissolved before they could expire. Bill C-16, introduced in the39th Parliament, provided for fixed election dates every 4 years on the third Monday in October, beginning in 2009. However, the Prime Minister may still advise the Governor General to dissolve Parliament at any time.
As in the United Kingdom, the cabinet and head of government are indirectly elected based on the composition of the House of Commons, they are not technically affected by the terms of legislators or Parliaments. In practice however, the terms of government office holders are affected by changes in the House of Commons, and those who serve for multiple consecutive Parliaments are generally considered to have served a single term. The term of a government generally ends when it is defeated on a confidence matter or the governing party fails to gain enough seats in a general election.
Senators are appointed to the Canadian Senate to represent a province, territory, or group of provinces, by the Governor General of Canada on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serve until the mandatory retirement age of 75. Senators appointed before the passage of theBritish North America Act, 1965 served for life. Senators may also resign from office or be expelled from the Senate.
Provincial legislatures and the legislature of the Yukon function very similarly to the federal House of Commons. MLAs (called MPPs inOntario, MNAs inQuebec, and MHAs inNewfoundland and Labrador) serve for the duration of the legislature, though they may resign before the legislature is dissolved or be elected in by-elections between general elections. The legislatures of theNorthwest Territories andNunavut operate using aconsensus model, but are similar otherwise. The premiers and their cabinets are selected in the same way as in the House of Commons, and like at the federal level, the term of a provincial government can be ended by defeat in a general election or the loss of the legislature's confidence.
All provincial legislatures have fixed-term election legislation in place, as does the legislature of the Northwest Territories. Premiers may also advise Lieutenant Governors to dissolve legislatures at any time before the prescribed election date.
In the Netherlands the position of Minister-President (Prime Minister) is limited to four years (counted from the moment the government is officially formed) although it can be repeated indefinitely after subsequent elections. It is common for the heads of governments in the Netherlands to take up the mantle multiple times, although it's neither expected or required to do so, more often a consequence of governments breaking up internally before their official four years are over and reforming with other parties. This is how the Netherlands ended up with consequent cabinets by:4xWillem Drees (Drees-Van Schaik I '48, Drees I '51, Drees II '52 - Drees III '56)3xDries van Agt (Van Agt I '77, Van Agt II '81, Van Agt III '82)4xJan Peter Balkenende (Balkenende I '02, Balkenende II '03, Balkenende III '06, Balkenende IV '07)4xMark Rutte (Rutte I '10, Rutte II '12, Rutte III '17, Rutte IV '22).
Between 1982 and 2018, theConstitution of China stipulated that thepresident,vice president,premier,vice premiers could not serve more than two consecutive terms. In March 2018,China's party-controlledNational People's Congress passed a set of constitutional amendments including removal of term limits for thepresident andvice president, as well as enhancing the central role of theChinese Communist Party (CCP).[9][10] On 17 March 2018, the Chinese legislature reappointed Xi as president, now without term limits;Wang Qishan was appointed vice president.[11][12] The following day,Li Keqiang was reappointedpremier and longtime allies of Xi,Xu Qiliang andZhang Youxia, were voted in asvice-chairmen of the state military commission.[13] Foreign ministerWang Yi was promoted tostate councillor and GeneralWei Fenghe was nameddefence minister.[14]
According to theFinancial Times, Xi expressed his views of constitutional amendment at meetings with Chinese officials and foreign dignitaries. Xi explained the decision in terms of needing to align two more powerful posts—General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party andChairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC)—which have no term limits. However, Xi did not say whether he intended to serve as party general secretary, CMC chairman and state president, for three or more terms.[15]
During her three terms…
President insists term extension is necessary to align government and party posts
