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Should Congress Have Term Limits Essay

411 Words2 Pages

There are many differing views on the powers congress holds, and congress itself, one such point of view is on whether or not congressmen should have a limited number of terms they are capable of serving, similar to how the president is only capable of serving two terms, and whether or not it would benefit both the people and the government. Congress itself is the legislative branch of the federal government, and as such holds a large amount of authority and power, including putting laws into effect, declaring war, taxing, impeachment, and many other important duties that can be carries out only by congress. Furthermore, members of congress do not have limits on the amount of terms they are allowed to serve, only limits on the length of each term, for those in the house of representatives each term is two years, while in the senate, each term is six years long. I find this to be a matter of public concern because many …show more content…

Individual rights are involved because members of congress that have been their positions for many years may have prejudices and grudges against certain people, groups and parties, and this may affect their decision during the passing of laws or the approval of a constitutional amendment, therefore, it is for the benefit of peoples right in general, to have members of congress that are not allowed to serve indefinitely, otherwise not only will ideas stagnate, but prejudices that may infringe upon peoples equality when it comes to the passing of laws will remain in congress for extended periods of time and be able to cause greater negative

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In 1990, term limits were about eight years in the Senate and six years in the Assembly. However, in 2010, it went up to twelve years no matter where they are. There was a higher term expectancy, lower switching, and more institutional memory. Term limits allowed for more diversity by representatives and more new ideas to try out coalitions. The problem with short term limits is that there was a loss of “institutional memory” where there is a well-crafted policy and “splashy” policy, to look good in the process.

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However, reelection being the motivator of members of Congress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The motivation to be reelected incentivizes members of Congress to enact legislation and constantly work to improve the lives of citizens. Regardless of motive, as long as legislation is being passed through the House and members of Congress like Representative Long are improving the conditions of their district, the purpose of government is being

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In 1995, the Supreme Court decided the landmark case U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton. The court ruled that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of the U.S. Congress stricter than those specified in the Constitution. After the recent ballot measure adding an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that denied ballot access to any federal Congressional candidate having already served three terms in the U.S. House or two terms in the U.S. Senate, was challenged on the grounds that the new restrictions amounted to an unwarranted expansion of the specific qualifications for membership in Congress enumerated in the U.S. Constitution: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five

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In effect, the individual member leans towards individualistic policies that are beneficial to maintaining office. In Mayhew’s argument he presents the “marginal congressman”, making the point that individuals should ignore national trends and, “…treat them as acts of God over which they can exercise no control.” (p. 129). As he states further, “It makes much more sense to devote resources to things over which they think they can have some control.”

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The term length for a Senator is six-years, with one-third of Senators being up for election every two-years. This keeps a constant rotation of new ideas and people within the Senate, while providing stability to the legislative branch. Eligibility for a Senator requires you to have attained at least 30-years of age and a citizen for at least nine-years. According to Madison, this helps prevents the inexperienced and foreigners who wish to cause harm from being

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597 Words | 3 Pages

Mystie Robinson American Government Term Limits of Congress The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature of the United States of America’s federal government. Congress has two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of Congress can spend many years in office. They don’t have term limits.

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Meaning they will do anything as long as it doesn 't threaten their principal goal which is reelection.” (Arnold, 5). Reelection is the main goal but members of Congress will do other things that are beneficial to their constituency unlike the theory that Mayhew brings up. Although, congressmen have to watch out for what they say and how they act since there will always be an opponent who will attempt to bring all those things to light to use them as an advantage and most of the time is decisions and conditions that the public hasn 't even noticed and wouldn 't at all if it wasn 't for the robo-challenger. In addition to that reasoning congressmen are extremely unpopular with the public because they have to take into consideration the input of experts, generalist and ordinary people.

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Are you opposed to the idea of congress members having term limits ? If you are I can understand why but personally I am not. Term limits would be very effective to see change, to give the best-qualified members a chance and restore government accountability. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to have term limits so there would actually be a chance of change ? Of course it would be a good idea !

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The United States Congress was created by the founding fathers for representatives voted by their constituents to create legislation and to keep the President in check for the betterment of the nation. Congress was seen as the heart and soul of democracy and many believed that congressmen listened to their problems and would enact change to help. Today, Congress is seen as corrupt, unproductive, and always promising, but never delivering. Several politicians have run for Congress saying they will end the corruptness and bring upon changes to end the unproductiveness. Unfortunately, Congress is still progressing at a slow grind.

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If you were to perform a website for “who is the longest serving member of the Senator,” you will see Democrat Robert C Byrd, 51 years of serves (1959 to 2010; Democratic Daniel K. Inouye , 49 years of serves (1963 to 2012) and Republican Strom Thurmond, 47 years of serves (1954 to 2003) (U.S. Senate: Longest Serving Senators, 2015). It is also interesting to note that of these three, all died in office with the exception of Strom Thurmond who technically stepped down before he died six months later. Tyranny has clearly crept back in government when congressional member are allowed to remain in office for more than 30 years (Vance, 1994, 429). Limits on congressional terms are clearly needed and are necessity to uphold the founding fathers’ intention of a democratic process that allows every citizen the privilege to participate in the political system; and to prevent unfair advantages given to

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This means that citizens can vote for different rules and laws so people are equal. If there were no rights certain people would suffer more from not being able to do things such as not being able to drive, or having to do things such as going to military training, but if everyone agrees you may be able to change laws and rules by voting. This is in order to live a happy life. Another reason to be civilized is so the

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