US elections

Although US elections happen thousands of miles from the UK they are often big news here too.

That's because decisions made by the US government often affect people all around the world - things like whether to go to war, and how to protect the environment.

Every four years people in the US vote to elect their president, and the four years between elections is called a term of office.

Politicians can only serve two terms of office, and if they win two elections they are not allowed to stand again in a third one.

That's why George Bush couldn't put himself forward for the 2008 presidential election.

Click here to find out who could be the next president

There are other elections halfway through each term of office called mid-terms.

In mid-terms a president isn't elected, but other US politicians are.