MOST of the "free, democratic" world operates under the parliamentary form of government.
The hallmarks of this system is that the PARLIAMENT, not the people, have the ultimate power and say.
Parliament is elected. They have to form a majority coalition which appoints all of the executive and judicial branch. As long as they have the majority of parliament, things continue. (This is why, by the way, you have so many parties in these types of system. Once elected, even if it is just a few people, they can negotiate their support for power.)
There are 2 events which cause an election:
There has been enough time and change of public opinion that if we were to hold elections the majority would no longer be the majority. At this point, elections are held across the country and new members of parliament are chosen, and it starts over. Obviously, if the majority coalition thinks they would lose, they try to stall this as long as possible, or they wait for an opportune moment when they are more likely to win.
2, The majority is no longer the majority as enough members of parliament leave the majority that they no longer have the right to rule. This can be alleviated by forming a new majority, but typically it is better to proceed with an election.
Parliamentary governments typically do NOT have regular elections. The US is very strange for that reason: we reform our government every 2 years with every major election. They only hold an election when it appears that the people no longer support the majority.
The exact method of calling for an election varies, but in most cases the leader of the majority coalition, the prime minister, is expected to just call for a new election to avoid looking like a jerk.
If you understood more about history, you'd understand why this is the way it is.
Let me try to explain.
MOST of the "free, democratic" world operates under the parliamentary form of government.
The hallmarks of this system is that the PARLIAMENT, not the people, have the ultimate power and say.
Parliament is elected. They have to form a majority coalition which appoints all of the executive and judicial branch. As long as they have the majority of parliament, things continue. (This is why, by the way, you have so many parties in these types of system. Once elected, even if it is just a few people, they can negotiate their support for power.)
There are 2 events which cause an election:
Parliamentary governments typically do NOT have regular elections. The US is very strange for that reason: we reform our government every 2 years with every major election. They only hold an election when it appears that the people no longer support the majority.
The exact method of calling for an election varies, but in most cases the leader of the majority coalition, the prime minister, is expected to just call for a new election to avoid looking like a jerk.
If you understood more about history, you'd understand why this is the way it is.