self-perpetuating

[ self-per-pech-oo-ey-ting, self- ]

/ ˈsɛlf pərˈpɛtʃ uˌeɪ tɪŋ, ˌsɛlf- /

continuing oneself in office, rank, etc., beyond the normal limit.

capable of indefinite continuation.

Origin of self-perpetuating

First recorded in 1815–25

self-per·pet·u·a·tion, noun

Long-term unemployment isn't special just because it's longer; it's special because it's self-perpetuating.

D.C. Decides That Unemployment Is So 2009 |David Frum |May 15, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
In war and in peace, inevitable, self-perpetuating economies arise around the smuggling of illicit goods.

Bootleg Empire: America the Smuggler Nation |Cameron Martin |March 7, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Independent voters increasingly see both parties as captives of corrupt, self-serving and self-perpetuating political machinery.

The GOP Game Plan for 2010 |Denis Calabrese |September 19, 2009 |DAILY BEAST
The pendulum swing of politics has a funny way of self-perpetuating.

Obama's New 'Best Friends' |John Avlon |August 2, 2009 |DAILY BEAST

The somatoplasm can only in the most general way affect the self-perpetuating, close corporation of the germ-plasm.

The Whence and the Whither of Man |John Mason Tyler
Its current development appears to be motivated by a self-perpetuating drive: knowledge for the sake of knowledge.

The Civilization of Illiteracy |Mihai Nadin
The body was self-perpetuating and very careful to maintain its respectability in the election of new members.

Memoir of John Howe Peyton |Various
The proposal contained within itself that self-perpetuating power, for which the schemes of slave-owners are so remarkable.

An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans |Lydia Maria Child
They are all self-perpetuating, yet always passing into new forms.

I Walked in Arden |Jack Crawford

self-perpetuating

(of machine, emotion, idea, etc) continuing or prevailing without any external agency or intervention