Abstract

Term limits are a substantial aspect of the U.S. political system. Proponents argue that incumbency advantages has undermined fair elections, preventing turnover of regular party and continuing the political careers of professional politicians who are ever more out of touch with the concerns of average Americans. On the other hand, the opponents argue that voters have the choice to re-elect the representatives or not and that ultimately, it is the voters who are responsible for incumbency advantage. This paper seeks to analyze whether term limits will make United States politics better or worse; the performance of politicians will be better with the imposition of term limits on Congress or not.

Abstract1

Thesis Statement3

Introduction3

Discussion and Analysis4

Arguments in Favor of Term Limits4

Arguments against Term Limits5

Term limits for a Better Political Scenario5

Conclusion6

Works Cited7

Implications of Term Limits on the Congress for Better United States

Thesis Statement

Term Limits on the United States Congress will help ensure that our nation's politicians work together more effectively. Limitations on the number of period members of Congress serve will not only restore a citizen legislature, but it will also increase gender and racial diversity in office.

Introduction

Since the Constitution was a gleam in the framers' eye, the idea of limiting the number of terms a Congress member may serve has been rattling around (Frenzel, p.18). Discussions over term limits start to reach a peak, when a large population segment gets fed up completely with the way Congress is doing business, as a whole. Term limits are statutory limitations placed on the number of terms that may be served by officeholders. During the late 1980s and early 90s, term limits became an essential issue of national politics and have been debated vigorously, focusing, in particular, on U.S. Congress members (Kurtz et. al., p. 10). A large cross section of the American public, supporting term limits, feel that power abuses can be reduced by a limitation on the period of time a politician may hold office. Furthermore, the focus on reelection by well-established incumbents, promotes nonpoliticians' political participation, thus making government more responsive to public needs. However, in contrast, it is maintained by opponents that a built-in way of providing term limits is already served by elections. The critics feel such limits undemocratic and unconstitutional, and cite the advantages of seniority and of the experience attained by years in office.

This paper draws together the various opinions regarding the term limits, and highlights areas of ongoing debate and issues. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of term limits for making it sure that our nation's politicians collaborate more effectively for a better United States.

Discussion and Analysis

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, congressional term limits became a significant issue when efforts were made at grassroots level to limit the terms of elected officials. However, the Supreme Court ruled in Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995), that term limits cannot be imposed by states on senators or federal representatives. Amendment in the Constitution would be the only means to limit congressional ...