{"entry":{"title":"Ending the Endless Election Season","date":"Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:00:00 -0600","author":"Raymond Smith, Progressive Policy Institute","description":"
National elections in the United States now stretch out over nearly 24 months, with each new electoral cycle seeming to start up almost as soon as the last has ended. By contrast, British law allows elections in the United Kingdom to last no more than 17 working days<\/em>. In 2005, for instance, the electoral season began on April 11 with the formal dissolution of Parliament and the vote was taken on May 5. The U.K. is not alone in the speed of its elections: the 2008 Canadian federal election began on September 14 and ended on October 7. That same year, elections in Italy lasted a slightly longer seven weeks, while in 2010 in the Netherlands the process took ten weeks.<\/p>","original_link":"http:\/\/www.progressivepolicy.org\/2013\/01\/ending-the-endless-election-season\/"}}