The Term Limits Movement For State Legislatures

Forgette Richard, Garner Andrew, and Winkle John. “Do redistricting principles and practices affect US state legislative electoral competition? State Politics and policy quarterly, 20(9) (2009): 151 175.

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

Finally, the argument that term limits are unconstitutional is valid as the Constitution currently reads. However, with the appropriate congressional and voter approval percentages, the term limits for these representatives could become law.

There has been four major law change that affect the way that california is the way today.The first of the four changes is term limits, they change this rule so that there would be no more career politician , but that not the case. In the old rule term limits rules you were allowed to be in the senate for 6 terms and in the assembly for 3 term. Now the term limits you get 12 terms not matter where you are. This new system bring in a lot of advantage, and little disadvantage but there is always false in every system. The advantage to is that it helps to bring in new idea and people that can see thing different. But there also a disadvantage to this by bring in new blood ,we are taking about the season professional that know what they are

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.

As mentioned previously, Proposition 140 was not just simply a bill to enact term limits to state legislatures but one of reducing the expenditures to the legislatives staff. Prior to Proposition 140, California had enjoyed relatively large legislative staffs and nonpartisan organizations, such as The Legislative Analyst’s Office. After the passing of Proposition 140, legislative costs of the state had to be reduced significantly, with The Legislative Analyst’s Office and the Assembly and Senate Research greatly reducing their staff, with The Legislative Analyst’s Office in particular reducing its staff from 98 to 43 during the first two years alone (Robinson, pg.8). Funding aside, term limits have also negatively impacted the legislative staff that remained. One challenge that legislative staffs now face is job instability. In contrast to the long-time incumbents of the past that would guarantee a long-term job, staff are now highly susceptible to short-term jobs that could range anywhere from a single term bosses to 14 year ones. Another challenge that staff face is their new roles in the relation with legislators. With current turnover rates of legislators, staff are now burdened with the responsibility of teaching legislators about the daily operations of the legislature. Where as in the past, legislators could rely on there long time careers as

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

John Dingell, a member of the United States House of Representatives, served fifty-nine years and twenty-one days at this position. With no term limits set for the federal legislative positions in the United States, is this representation becoming redundant? Term limits can potentially be crucial in political reform of the United States that would bring new perspectives to federal legislative positions, warrant regular federal legislative turnover, and reduce incentives for wasteful election-related federal spending. Term limits can also pervert the entire understanding of what democracy is, by substituting the people’s will with term limits that may go against what the people want. United States federal legislative term limits have previously

Compared to Florida state legislature, Nebraska has the smallest legislature with only 49 senators who are eligible to consecutive four-year terms. Nebraska is the only non-partisan state legislature in America. This is because, during elections, there are no party affiliations next to the names of candidates on the ballot. Also, a member of the Senate from any party can be elected as the speaker of the house or as the chair of any house committee. However, it can be argued that all legislators are affiliated with the state affiliate of either the democrats or republicans as these parties often explicitly endorse certain candidates for political seats. For instance, in most cases in elections for Congress, the incumbent will run on either

Numerous Americans are unaware that by next year, the average age of Supreme Court justices will be 75. Unlike other countries, the United States’ Supreme Court does not enforce the idea of term limits. Once a judge is selected, when they leave the Supreme Court is up to their decision. Supreme Court justices may choose to retire early or die. However, as the judges are getting older and older, their health may intervene with the decisions that are being made. Issues regarding the health of the justices’ would not be a reoccurring annoyance if they were to be swapped out with younger and healthier judges; therefore, term limits are a good idea because there would be more diversity in the Supreme Court, mental and health issues would be reduced, and term limits would be long enough for judges to master the job.

There are many reforms that have been discussed one being to extend the term for members of the Texas Legislature. Many feel that if the Senate is extended to six years and the House of Representative to four years it will allow the members to obtain more experience in fields and be able to not have to worry about when the next election is as often. Many critics feel that the time members are in session are too short to make any real progress, reformers would like to increase the length of legislative sessions from the current 140 days. Others feel that increasing the sessions would allow for more laws and regulations. This will be an ongoing debate where there will always be two sides to the possibility of reform which will impact the possibility of it being passed.

The American dream states that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it and work hard because America is the land of opportunity. This message did not prove true for the two men in the films we watched. For Jeff Smith and Cory Booker, political dynasties prevented either man from getting an equal opportunity to run for public office. These political machines have powers beyond that one a single man running in an election and these powers can shift elections in someone's favor, effectively chipping away and the foundations of democracy. Political Machines are political power structures who hold enormous power through their commandment of support.

Gaurav Sharma Professor Sherry Sharifian Texas Government 2306 SLO#3 April 24, 2017 Local Control in Texas In Texas, there are very many functional Interest groups and lobbyists that operate effectively influencing the policy-making processes. The Interest groups and lobbyists are in close association with policy-makers whereby they act as negotiators of democracy to the citizens who cannot reach the legislatures (Texas Vox: 1). This has impacted local control in Texas greatly. However, the nature of laws that have been passed recently in Texas shows that the policy-makers are diverging from interest from the citizens and favoring individual groups and companies. The following essay will address the impact depicted by Interest groups and lobbyists

For Centuries in the United States, Congressional gridlock has been one of the main difficulties of prosperity and progress. The government of the United States has had the opportunity to make the life of its citizens better but due to the epidemic of gridlock a lot of the issues we face are unresolved or ignored. Going forward I will give causes, solutions and some examples of the effect that it has had on the democracy of the United States as well as examples of congressional gridlock.

This year marks a pivotal point in the history of state government, and that’s not because the General Assembly might fall completely under the control of the Republicans. What is taking place is something more basic: the departure of an entire generation of lawmakers who have been in control of the legislative branch of government for nearly four decades.