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Why there should be congressional term limits
Why we should have term limits to members of congress
Why we should have term limits to members of congress
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The article is written by Richard Fenno in 1978, summarizing the dilemma of congressmen in the contemporary time. The author was specifically discussing about members of the House, who always seek for reelection during his legislative career, as stated in the initial part of the paper. Fenno went on to propose the conflict in incumbent congressmen 's career: more attention for the Washington career leads to less attention for the congressmen 's home state. The Washington career required commitment to build up support within the House. However, focusing on Washington rendered the congressman homeless, or losing his home 's supportive forces.
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.
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
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v Thornton 514 U.S. 779 (1995) 5-4 Facts: In 1992 Arkansas voters approved an amendment to the state constitution, prohibiting anyone who had previously served two terms in the Senate or three terms in the House of Representatives to run again. Representative Ray Thornton filed suit asking a state court to declare to declare the amendment unconstitutional. They claimed the Constitution establishes the sole qualifications for federal officeholders and the states may not alter them. The lower court struck down the amendment as unconstitutional and in 1994 the state Supreme Court affirmed.
Modern congress and its members seem largely concerned and focused on partisan advancements. Though there are many reasons as to why the enormous division in congress is as it is, there is one factor that draws the most attention. Filibuster an action that is used by most congressmen and women to delay the passage of laws, has increasingly over the course of time become a negative action rather than positive. The use of mostly long speeches as ways to prohibit and hinder bills or laws is now being used by many senators to advance personal and party goals thus, it is crucial that the ban of filibuster must be considered and replaced with the simple majority rule. First and foremost, some reasons as to why filibuster should be exempted from
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
Arkansas amended their state constitution in 1992 to impose term limits on their legislators. Amendment 73, Section 3 prohibited people who served in the House of Representatives for three or more terms and people who served in the Senate for two or more terms from appearing on the ballot for reelection. Ray Thornton, a six-term House representative, challenged the amendment against U.S. Term Limits, Inc., a national advocacy group. The Arkansas State Supreme Court held Section 3 of Amendment 73 violated Article I of the Constitution. U.S. Term Limits Inc. appealed to the Supreme Court.
In consecutive term limits, a legislator is limited to serving a particular number of years in a chamber. After meeting the limit in that chamber, he or she may run for election to a different chamber or
This has been a topic in mind for many years. Should members of Congress have term limits? There are pros and cons of Congress having or not having term limits that many people use to argue their opinion. There can be benefits to term limits. This can be a way for new people to come into office every couple of years to have more of a variety of new opinions.
Members of the U.S. Senate serve six-year terms, however, there is no limit to the number of terms an individual may serve. With that being said, many senators serve numerous terms, and it is rather unlikely to see an incumbent senator, a current member of the Senate, lose his/her seat after seeking reelection. This phenomenon is known as the incumbency advantage. As seen in the graph above, incumbent senators up for reelection have had an advantage since at least the mid-twentieth century.
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
According to an article by Robert Longley, if there were term limits for congress there would be less experience and also you would be limiting the members that have not became corrupt. The article also states that new members would bring in more fresh ideas to congress. Applying no term limits for the members of congress is unconstitutional
The twenty second amendment created term limits for the president and the twenty eighth amendment should create term limits for congress. In today 's society, especially the younger generation, everyone is so worried about social issues that rarely do they take the time to see who is enabling the nation, let alone vote for congressmen. While it may not be correct to not pay attention to government officials it 's unfortunately what is happening. Politicians are corrupt and the more time they spend in office the more they begin to care more about legacy than making this nation great.
The Supreme Court is an extremely important part of government. As such, we need healthy judges that are on top of their mental game. Therefore, term limits are necessary because newer judges can have a different point of view, mental health will be reduced, and the majority of Americans support term limits. If we have newer judges they will have a different point of view. In the article, Christopher stated that “It would mean a court that more accurately refers the changes and judgements of the society.”
A citizen should act upon their free will or judgement without having the pressures of society around them. The House of Representatives member should worry about the diverse community values rather than the citizen. Even if they are in a specific party they do not have to vote upon what that party thinks what is
