Term Limits For Legislators
When the Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1789, it was
without direction regarding . At the time,
professional politicians were unheard of, and the idea of someone serving for
more than one or two terms was unlikely. So the Constitution did not formally
address the issue of term limits, although it was understood that officeholders
would limit themselves to one or two terms and then return to private life (1).
With the advent of the modern state, however, came the making of Congress as a
career, and thus the voluntary removal of oneself from office, as envisioned by
the founders, is no longer regularly undertaken in the United States Congress.
The structure of the ...
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Currently,
advocates of term limits are calling for two terms in the Senate, and three in
the House. It is possible, then, for a member to serve six years in the House,
twelve years in the Senate, eight years as Vice President, and eight years as
President, a total of thirty-six years. It is not unlikely, therefore, that
there will continue to be career politicians. The issue is not about total time
that one may participate in government, rather it is about how long one may
serve in a particular capacity. Term limits enjoy popular, but not political,
support, thereby polarizing the electorate and the elected. This paper will
discuss the popular support for term limits, the arguments on both sides, and
draw conclusions about the need for Congressional term limits in the United
States
Support for term limits encompasses close to three-quarters of the
American population (2). The question is why. The simple answer is that the
American people no longer trust a system ...
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term limits will also limit corruption.
The strength of public support for term limits can be seen in the fact
that several states voted to limit the length of time their representatives can
serve in Congress. By the middle of 1995, almost half of the states had limited
the number of terms for their representatives. This success of the term limit
movement at the grass roots level faced a serious setback when the Supreme Court
ruled in a 5-4 majority that such restrictions were unconstitutional. They
argued that "allowing individual States to craft their own qualifications for
Congress would thus erode the structure envisioned by the Framers, a structure
that was designed…to form a ...
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Term Limits For Legislators. (2005, October 12). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Term-Limits-For-Legislators/34719
"Term Limits For Legislators." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 12 Oct. 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Term-Limits-For-Legislators/34719>
"Term Limits For Legislators." Essayworld.com. October 12, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Term-Limits-For-Legislators/34719.
"Term Limits For Legislators." Essayworld.com. October 12, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Term-Limits-For-Legislators/34719.
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