Essay On Congressional Term Limits

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Term limits in the congress One of the most widely supported initiatives in the Unites States is that of the introduction of congressional term limits. The introduction of term limitations in the congress by constitutional amendment would lead to a more effective legislative body, as it would eliminate incumbency advantages, would replace career politicians with civil legislators, and would lead to increased legislative diversity. Since the 1995 Supreme Court ruling, states do not wield the power to impose term limits on their members of congress (U.S. Term Limits Inc. v. Thornton). In some states; however, term limits have already been imposed on state magistrates. In several cases, term limits effectively enhanced turnover and the number…show more content…
Now, elected congressmen have to spend a remarkable portion of their time campaigning in advance to ensure that they get reelected after their term is up. If term limits were to be implemented in the constitution, civil legislators would replace career politicians. Representative democracy is hindered by careerism on multiple levels. Once elected, careerist legislators heed the wishes and requests of their constituents less. In addition, they become representative of the government’s interests and not the people’s who elected them. (Basham…show more content…
In a study that included all states, (21 states with term limits 29 no term limits). The findings of the study suggest that there is a positive relation between term limits and the number of women in legislature. In states with term limits there are approximately 1.54% more women in state legislature (Stambough & O’Regan 8). The example of the Michigan House shows that it is not only women who are more likely to get elected in states with term limits, but candidates from minorities as well. Following the introduction of term limits, the proportion of minority members elected to the Michigan house was at an all-time peak of 18% (Basham

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