Term Limits Essay

For over two decades, citizens of the United States of America have had strong feelings on the subject of congressional term limits- more specifically, the imposition of term limits on Supreme Court Justices as well as the restriction on judicial review. This controversial issue has been further publicized due to the more recent publication of Mark Levin’s book, The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Public. Levin, a talk show host, makes his term limit case in his book about several amendments that have been attempted in the past.

Another difference between the Articles and The Constitution that isn’t commonly held to be an important distinction, but one nonetheless, is the term lengths. Initially under the Articles of Confederation a Senator could be appointed to a maximum of a three year term within any given six years. With the newly drafted Constitution, some of that was retained. Senators still serve six year terms, and representatives from The House of Representatives would serve two. There are no limitations on how many times a representative can be reelected. Most people today would agree that term limits would be better off for Congress so that undue influence from lobbyist from big corporations could be eliminated.

Until 1951, there was no law restricting the number of times the president of the United States could run for office. After the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Congress proposed the 22nd Amendment. Since its ratification, the highly controversial amendment has survived every attempted repeal. Contemporary presidents of both parties, President Regan and President Clinton, supported repealing or modifying the amendment whereas other presidents believed a repeal would result in political stagnation. While there are certain benefits of restricted term limits, the otherwise undemocratic 22nd Amendment should be repealed.

It was then that within these limits that the Framers had to construct a constitution. Dahl explains that these limits caused the constitution to have serious undemocratic flaws. It neither banned slavery nor gave congress the power to do so; also the constitution didn't guarantee any right of suffrage and left that up to the states. The election of a president was left up to a body of presidential electors that was a group of men that would be unswayed by popular opinion to choose a chief executive. Choosing senators would be determined by the state

When the United States was founded, the theme behind the new government was to establish an efficient system without doling out too much power to any one person. The Founders intended to prevent a rebirth of tyranny, which they had just escaped by breaking away from England. However, when members of Congress such as Tom Foley, who served as a Representative from 1964 through 1995, and Jack Brooks, who served as a Representative from 1952 through 1994, remain in the legislative system for over forty years, it is evident that tyranny has not necessarily been eradicated from the United States (Vance, 1994, p. 429). Term limits are a necessity to uphold the Founders’ intentions, to prevent unfair advantages given to incumbents, and to

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress.

Congressional terms have no limits. Controversy exists between those who think the terms should be limited and those who believe that terms should remain unlimited. The group that wants to limit the terms argues that the change will promote fresh ideas and reduce the possibility of decisions being made for self-interest. Those who oppose term limits believe that we would sacrifice both the stability and experience held by veteran politicians. They also point out that our election process allows the voter to limit terms, at their discretion. While experience and stability are important considerations, congressional terms should be limited to a maximum of two.

America’s founding father, George Washington, set the pattern for presidential term limits to two four year terms; but not through any legislative means. Before 1947, there were no term limit rules. George Washington’s footsteps as the first President set an unbroken precedent for term limits, but it wasn’t until much later that the 22nd Amendment was passed. In more recent years, politicians and citizens alike have begun to point out more of the flaws in the two-term limit than ever before; and they are on the right track. Restricting the president to a two-term limits the president’s effectiveness in office, provides the opportunity for an elected president to abuse power, and restricts a current president from continuing a successful policy even when majority wishes for the opposite

The congress is subject to congressional term limits. George Washington. These term limits have been around since the constitution. The presidential two term limit was informal until 1951 with the 22nd Amendment. The 22nd Amendment states “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” This came after Roosevelt served four terms. Term limits are needed to control power, give regular citizens a chance to run, and make politicians think more and do more with their limited office time.

The issue of limiting the number of terms that a Congressman or a Senator can seek re-election is a huge hot button issue today. It is also an issue that has a rather large conflict of interest stamp behind it. The reason for this is because our Senators and Congressman are in direct control of whether or not this issue is brought out of a committee and eligible to be sent to the States for potential ratification. There is a Constitutional way to get around the Senate and the House from bringing up this issue, but the problem is that we as a nation haven’t done it in over 200 years. What I am referring to is a state’s ability to call a Constitutional Convention to propose and ratify an Amendment.

A term limit is made prevents government officials from serving for more than a specified number of terms. The

What then would be the benefit of limiting the term of a Supreme Court Justice? The reasoning for the limitation begins with the level of contention that becomes present in the United States Senate when a vacancy evolves. For the purpose of enlightenment, we can reflect back to the

It is a good thing there are not term limits. Election time should be used to elemenate unwanted office members. If someone is doing a good job then there is not reason to changes thing. It is very hard to fix things that are not

Congressional elections occur every two years and it is when members if the House of Representatives and Senate are elected. An incumbent is when a congressman is up for re-election but is currently still holding office. We have long known that US incumbents enjoy profound electoral advantages in congressional elections. However contrary to speculation some evidence shows that they are on an equal playing field with contesters who are not incumbents.

Limiting terms for congress can cause problems by people aren’t going to want it. It’s a topic that gets brought up, but because it’s made unconstitutional it can’t be passed. Some say it might cause competitive elections, but in my eyes every election is competitive otherwise why else would those whom do not get very many votes or even those trying to win election dig up dirt on their component’s and approve the message. We also have to think about the voter’s rights, and how they might like who is representing them and want to keep them in congress forever. It would decrease the power of voters by limiting terms for congress, yes it would be great to rid the old and put in new lawmakers, but voters would lose power because of wanting to keep their representatives plus they can vote them out if they wanted to.