Why is it that only the President has 2 term limit, and Judges and Legislators can hold office for ever?
349895
well remember fdr ran for 4 terms after that a const. admt was passes limiting his term for 10 years max (2 elected term ans 2 year if he was the vp and the previous president died or left office)
859980
Senators serve for six-year terms that are staggered so elections are held for approximately one-third of the seats (a "class") every second year. \n\nEach House Representative serves for a two-year term and may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. \n\nBy the time of their inauguration, the President and Vice President must be:\nnatural born citizens (or citizens at the time of the Constitution's adoption)  thirty-five years old \ninhabitants for at least fourteen years of the United States. \n\nSupreme Court of the United States, highest court in the United States and the chief authority in the judicial branch\n\nArticle III federal judges" (as opposed to judges of some courts with special jurisdictions) serve "during good behavior". They cannot be removed from office except by impeachment by the House of Representatives followed by conviction by the Senate. Often this is expressed by saying they are appointed "for life". They hold their seats until they resign, die, or are impeached and convicted.
29829
There are way more than two types. There's direct democracy, representative democracy, presidental, parliamentary, etc.
848123
Excellent question!  Right now, the Congress of the United States is full of people who have to run for office every two years.  That means there is very little time between one election and the next.  Too much time is spent raising funds for re-election that should be spent doing the business of the people.  \n\nI think four-year terms with a limit of two terms might be an answer.  Also, the political parties should spend more time explaining their positions on real issues and less time blasting the opposition.\n\nSome of the congressmen spend way too much time on so called fact finding trips to exotic places, and on Sunday news shows and participating in committee meetings that acomplish little more than providing  face time on cameras.
58119
All that stuff is because of their constitutions or whatever piece of writing they use as their basis for government. In our case, we have the U.S. Constitution. It dictates when presidents are elected and how they are elected and the length of their terms. I would imagine that all countries have something similar to that for their reasoning. Their founding fathers, or at least the one's who redrafted their constitutions, are the ones who decide what it should be.
963861
Greg's answer is a good one. :) \n\nI would also add that since judges are put into place by the president and the legislature, they are (unlike politicians) not beholden to special interest groups or lobbyists, and they are not dependant on the people for their job. Because they are free of restrictions, they can uphold the constitution and rule of law without worrying for the safety of their jobs. This helps to further assure "liberty and justice for all". \n\nBTW, the president and legislature only put into place SUPREME COURT justices... Lower courts ARE sometimes elected by the people, depending on the state in which you live.
11245
A presidential government is a form of federal system.
86729
No, they cannot. Prior to the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt there was no limit on the number of terms a president could serve. FDR broke tradition by serving a third term In fact, he was even elected for a fourth term, but he died shortly thereafter. Once FDR was gone the Congress decided to make it so that from that time forward a president could only serve 2 terms. The 22nd amendment was passed to ensure this. However, if a president dies or is removed from office somehow with 2 years or less in his term and the vice president takes power, the vice president is allowed to be elected to two more terms. Therefore, it is possible that a president could serve a 10 year term, which is kind of like having 2.5 terms. This has never happened yet, but it could.
152248
The elected offices of the executive branch are president and vice president. They both must be a natural born citizen, be 35 years old, and have been a resident of the country for the past 14 years. A president can be elected to two terms of 4 years each, while the vice president serves 4 years and has no term limit. If the vice president succeeds to the office of president due to the president's death, resignation, or impeachment, and serves in that capacity for less than two years, he/she can then be elected to two terms as president, meaning that 10 years is the maximum possible.\n\nAside from those two positions, there are the several cabinet members and heads of various departments, all of which are appointed. There are thus no qualifications per se, as each administration decides what they should be.
254742
It's a matter of consistency.  The Senate is designed in such a way as to limit the disruption caused by elections.  Which is why only 1/3 of the Senate comes up for election every two years.
795550
It could be possible. The Consitution says the President can only be ELECTED to no more than 2 terms. \n\nIf the current President served as Vice President and due to an illness, death, or some other situation where the previous President could no longer function, than the Vice President would become President.\n\nOnly Franklin Delanore Roosevelt served more than 2 terms. He was elected for 4 terms and served 3 full terms and a few months of the 4th term. \n\nThe consitution was admended after his death to limit a President to only 2 terms.
242104
Well, as far as I know, the process in the US must be similar to that of Argentina (where I live), since both countries are federal, representative democratic republics (how democratic they really are might be up to debate)...\nAnyway, in such system, the government is divided in three powers... Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.\n\nThe Legislative Power (Senate and Congress) has its members elected every x number of years (2, I think), from the different political parties they belong two. (In the US there are only two important political parties, but here in Argentina we have more ideological diversity).\n\nAnyway, these elected representatives of the Legislative Power propose laws among themselves, which must be examined by jurists, and then voted, either on the Senate or on the Chamber of Representatives (depending on the law itself), and then, if the law is aproved, its passed over to the president (executive power), so that he turns the project into an effective law. Sometimes the president can veto some laws, annuling them.\nAlso, sometimes the president can write laws by himself, without them passing through the congress. But this is a mechanism supposed to be reserved for special occasions, and if a president does this too regularly he might be accused of abusing his power.\n\nThe duty of the judiciary is to ensure that the already enacted laws are enforced in the country. Sometimes, the different judges must decide is a law is or not valid in certain occasions, setting precedents that are then followed.\n\nTo sum up - Legislative creates and approves the laws.\nExecutive enforces them in the territory, and sometimes can veto them or propose its own laws, and judiciary has the duty to examin how are these laws enforced on the territory, making sure that people obey them.\n\n\nThis is how the system is supposed to work, but as you will see, the problems of corruption, political and economic lobbies, bussiness influence, and dictatorial tendencies of some politicians often tend to end up screwing the system.\n\n\nEdit: I am talking about national laws too. The different states and counties have their own executive, legislative and judiciary powers.\nFor more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_government\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_democracy
847423
FDR did NOT pass such a law.  As a result of FDR breaking the tradition set by George Washington of not running for a 3rd term, The 22nd amendment to the Constitution was passed.  It states that 'No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.'  The only provision that MAY prevent such a person from being elected Vice President is the 12th amendment.  The last sentence of which reads 'But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.  It is interesting to note that while the 22nd amendment prevents a person from being ELECTED to the office of President more than twice, the Constitution does not specifically prohibit a person from Serving as President more that twice.
58958
Amendment XXII \n(Ratified in 1951.) \n\nSection 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. \n\nSection 2. This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress
794425
There are term limits.  It's called voting them out!
2936
In the federal government, only the president is subject to term limits.  As for state and other goverments, it would depend on the state.  Some impose limits, some do not.
218012
Actually, anyone can run for president, given the meet the criteria set forth in the constitution. However, governors are usually the chioce because the are dealing with a similar government structure, but on a smaller scale. They are responsible for managing the same types of affairs, whereas senators are merely the public's voice in the legislative brance of democratic goverments