Star Trek

I've always wondered this. Does anyone have a hypothesis why? Discuss.....

Good point.

Yep - in the military, promotions must be agreed upon by the recipient.  Like Riker turned down the promotion to Captain a couple of times before accepting it in the last movie.

He didn't want to be one.

i was going to say he didn't want a desk job, but it has been typed already.

aw what the heck, i will type it again.

he didn't want a desk job.

i think Wolf 359 might have to do with that. the borg still retained some hold on him. the whispers and thought cross-siting...maybe they were scared to let him in on THE BIG GAME

He didn't want to be an admiral.  Kirk warned him in Generations not to give up the command chair.  If Kirk gave me advice, I'd take it!

He didn't want to be anywhere other then the Enterprise, "in the field" so to speak.  He enjoyed the mission, contacting new species and civilizations, helping out worlds in need, and just being out in space.  He said several times that he thought of himself as an explorer.  I can't say I blame him for wanting to stay a Captain on a ship, since it is way more exciting then sitting behind a desk at Starfleet HQ.  Also as has been already stated, Kirk's words in Generations ring true and provide the answer:

"Don't let them promote you.  Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there, you can make a difference."

Bingo!!

Picard knows the admiralty is a desk job.  The explorer in his nature doesn't want locked up in an office.

Even in real life, I've known a couple of O-6's that have refused promotion to General/Admiral.  They didn't want to deal with the politics.

Picard is a man that prefers his life to be unusual and intresting. For example in the episode We'll Always Have Paris, Dr. Paul Manheim's wife Jenice was Picards girlfriend when he was back on Earth, he was supposed to meet her one night back when they were a couple and he did'nt show up later explaing that he was afraid his life would be ordinary if he stayed with her. Also Picard specifically declines a promotion to be the Admiral overseeing Starfleet Academy on earth offered to him by his old friend Admiral Quinn.

Bingo.

It's weird that people think that the natural progression of things is simply to "get promoted."

Promotions to high ranks (or positions in companies) are VERY difficult at those levels because it's a mix of:

1. limited availablilty of opportunity

2. desire of the individual

3. appropriate mix of skills and competencies

Sometimes a bricklayer just wants to be the best bricklayer possible...  not to be the foreman or owner of the company....