Every four years, we vote for a new president. Why can't we keep the same one untill he dies?
2006-12-28 07:03:09 · 23 answers · asked by lacey s 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Elections
A lot of the bove are just snappy remarks, so I'll try and explain some of the philosophy behind it. We elect a president every four years as a kind of job performance review. We also have elections because the president is a representative of the people and, as such, should be held accountable by those people who are living in the country now and that the president is still the same person/has attempted to live up to his promises. If a president is elected because he promises to invade Canada or something and, instead, he sells off (with Congress' approval) Alaska to Canada, the people would have the right to elect another man who truly represents what they want. Consequently, a President must also reflect the views and opinions expressed by a plurality (largest group) of the people, especially at that point in time. Of course, some plans take a while to carry out (wars, major economic re-adjusments, etdc.) wnd so the President is given 4 years as a long enough time to carry out his particular plan without monopolizing the office. Noting this, as a new generation comes of age, their viewpoints may become different and necessitate a change in leadership (e.g. a growing sense of individualism and rejection of family-centered society led to the desire for Social Security and, to some extent, Welfare, as people did not want to return to the family setting).
The real question is why aren't Supreme Court Justices elected, maybe every 10 years or so?
2006-12-28 07:21:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
While the Constitution in Article 2 formed the four year terms for Presidency it was not until 1951 the 22nd Amendment was adopted that limited a President to two terms. Before than a President could run as many times as he wanted. It was just a traditional custom that a President would serve only two terms. FDR served for 12 years 1933-1945. It was done t prevent a dictatorship posibility. At the time FDR wsa the best choice as WWII was in full swing.
2006-12-28 07:45:19 · answer #2 · answered by BamaJJP 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why, thats not a democracy! One of the great things about the USA is that we can get a new start every few years. The reason for 4 years is because thats what people thought at the time would be good for a term. Its a good number- think about it. If you had a President for say 1 or 2 years it wouldn't be long enough to get anything done, 3 years is just not quite enough, and 4 years seems to be all you need.
Demoncracy like ours doesn't let people reign until they die. (there'd be more of a chance of the president getting shot anyway)
2006-12-28 07:12:39 · answer #3 · answered by POOF 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well after the American Revolution, the colonists didn't want a strong central government. So they formed the Articles of the Confederation. When they realized that didn't work they wrote the Constitution, and that is when we started to have presidents. They are elected every four years because the people didn't want it to become a monarchy. And they chose to follow George Washington's precedent of two terms.
2006-12-28 08:13:29 · answer #4 · answered by kristin c 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our founding fathers had the wisdom to set up a system that every four years we would have to reelect our primary government official. However it was only after FDR that an amendment was added limiting the president to two elected terms of office. The founders felt that the temptation to abuse the power of the presidency was too great to allow someone to be leader for life, and ensured that the people (Through the Electoral College) would ensure aome honesty in the system.
2006-12-28 07:14:20 · answer #5 · answered by paul_p_25 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because the founders realized that set election at a fixed period of time would keep or elected leaders accountable. As the Constitution was written, the President would be allowed to serve their until they die, but only with the support of the American People- Look at FDR. However, in the 50's, the constitution was amended to limit the president to 2 terms because they didn't' want someone else like FDR, because they couldn't' beat him. If they hadn't pushed for that, Clinton might have served another term, but you can't really do anything about it now...
2006-12-28 07:11:43 · answer #6 · answered by The Big Box 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well I'm guessing by this question that you support president Bush, otherwise you would understand completely why we need an election every 4 years..
and if that is the case, then think back to a time when there was a president in office who you did not feel was helping you and looking out for your well being, and remember that feeling you get when you realize the biggest idiot in the world is representing our nation. THAT is why we need to have elections every 4 years.
2006-12-28 07:09:44 · answer #7 · answered by blank 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
They offered George Washington the opportunity to be King and he turned them down. Why, we had just fought a war to be free from a dictatorship.
One person in control for a lifetime is a monarchy, not a democracy.
2006-12-28 08:17:48 · answer #8 · answered by Pamela K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because when our founding fathers wrote up the constitution, they did not want the presidency to seem like a dictatorship.
2006-12-28 07:12:08 · answer #9 · answered by camm300 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because that would be a monarchy or a dictatorship. By electing new ones we allow a different leader for the people to experience.
2006-12-28 07:07:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋