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Term limits in the United States

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There are a number of term limits to offices in the United States.

Federal term limits

The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution says that no person can be elected President of the United States to more than two four year terms. Term limits are a particularly important issue in the United States.

President George Washington originally started the tradition of informal Presidential term limits by refusing to run for a third term. The short-lived Confederate States of America adopted a six-year term for its President and Vice-President and barred the President from seeking re-election. This innovation was endorsed by many American politicians after the war, most notably by Rutherford B. Hayes in his inaugural address. Hayes's proposal did not come to fruition, but the government of Mexico adopted the Confederate term and limit for its federal President. Franklin Roosevelt was the first and only President to successfully break Washington's tradition, and he died in office while serving his fourth term.

Congressional term limits were featured prominently in the Republican Party's Contract with America in the 1994 election campaign, and may well have contributed to the so-called "Republican Revolution", as the Republicans wrested control of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party for the first time since the 1952 elections. The Republican leadership brought to the floor of the House a constitutional amendment that would limit House members to six two-year terms and members of the Senate to two six-year terms. However, this amendment did not gain the approval of U.S. Term Limits, the largest private organization pushing for Congressional term limits. (U.S. Term Limits wanted House members to be limited to three two-year terms.) With the Republicans holding 230 seats in the House, the amendment did receive a simple majority in the House. However, a two-thirds majority (290 votes) is required to pass a constitutional amendment, and thus the bill failed. The concept subsequently subsequently lost momentum by the mid 1990s.

In May 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995) that states cannot impose term limits upon their federal Representatives or Senators.

Currently, term limits at the federal level are restricted to executive branch and some agencies. The U.S. Congress, however, remains without electoral limits.

State term limits

Term limits for state governors or others within the state executive branch and other high constitutional offices have existed since the beginning of the United States. One of the first such limits of its kind, the Delaware Constitution of 1776, limited the governor to a single three-year term; currently, the governor of Delaware can serve two 4-year terms. As of present, there are 36 states have adopted term limits of various types for their governors. One variation allowed a governor to be re-elected, but only to non-consecutive terms. (To circumvent this provision, George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, announced in 1966 that voters should elect his wife, Lurleen Wallace, their next governor. It was clear during the campaign that Mrs. Wallace would only be a titular governor, and thus she was elected the first female governor of Alabama.)

Beginning in the 1990s, term limit laws were imposed on twenty state legislatures through either successful referendums, legislative acts or state constitutional changes. The Maine Legislature was the first state to enact legislative term limits in 1993.

Since 1997, however, six state legislatures have either overturned their own limits or state supreme courts have ruled such limits unconstitutional. In 2002 the Idaho Legislature became the first legislature of its kind to repeal its own term limits, enacted by a public vote in 1994, ostensibly because it applied to local officials along with the legislature.

State legislatures with term limits

The following 15 legislatures have term limits:

Overturned state legislative term limits

The following six legislatures have had their term limits nullified:

Municipal term limits

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the mayor cannot be elected 3 consecutive times, but there is no limit on how long any individual can serve as mayor. Frank Rizzo was elected mayor there in 1971 and 1975, then tried and failed to get the 3-consecutive ban overturned, so could not run for that office in 1979.

References

  • Pinney, Neil (2004). "The costs of reform: consequences of limiting legislative terms of service". Party Politics. 10 (1): 69–84. doi:10.1177/1354068804039121. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

See also

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