See also: Rotation in office

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. Rotation in office, or term limits dates back to the American Revolution and prior to that to the democracies and republics of antiquity Term of office refers to the length of time a person (usually a politician serves in a particular office Term limits are found usually in presidential and semi-presidential systems as a method to curb the potential for dictatorships, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature The semi-presidential system is a System of government in which a prime minister and a President are both active participants in the day-to-day administration President for Life is a Title assumed by some Dictators to remove their Term limit, in the hope that their Authority, legitimacy, and There are different types of term limits. Sometimes, there is an absolute limit on the number of terms a person can serve, while in other cases, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms a person can serve.

Use of term limits

See also: List of political term limits

Term limits have a long history. Asia Afghanistan President - Two five-year terms Armenia President - Two consecutive five-year Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, two early civilizations which had elected offices, both imposed limits on some positions. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office In ancient Athenian democracy, no citizen could serve on the council of 500, or boule, for two consecutive annual terms, nor for more than two terms in his lifetime, nor be head of the boule more than once. Athenian democracy developed in the Greek City-state of Athens In the cities of Ancient Greece, the boule ( Greek: βουλή, plural βουλαί or boulai from the Ancient Greek verb In the Roman Republic, a law was passed imposing a limit of a single term on the office of censor. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the A Censor was a magistrate of high rank in the ancient Roman Republic. The annual magistrates—tribune of the plebs, aedile, quaestor, praetor, and consul—were forbidden reelection until a number of years had passed. Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Byzantine Greek form τριβούνος) was a title shared by 2–3 elected magistracies in the Aedile ( Aedilis, from aedes aedis "temple" "building" was an office of the Roman Republic. Quaestors were originally appointed by the Consuls to investigate criminal acts and determine if the consul needed to take public action Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities the commander of an Army, either before Consul (abbrev cos; Latin plural consules) was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire ^[1] (see cursus honorum, Constitution of the Roman Republic). The cursus honorum ( Latin: "course of honors" or "honors race" was the sequential order of Public offices held by aspiring The Constitution of the Roman Republic or Mos maiorum (Latin for "customs of the ancestors" was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles

Many modern presidential republics employ term limits for their highest offices. A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature The United States, one of the first countries of the modern era to have elected political offices, placed a limit of two terms on its presidency by means of the 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Twenty-second Amendment ( Amendment XXII) of the United States Constitution sets a Term limit for the President of the United States. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. There are no term limits for members of Congress—Representatives and Senators, although there have been calls for term limits for those offices. A Member of Congress is a Politician who is a member of a Congress. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives Under various state laws some state governors and state legislators have term limits. State law in the United States, is the Law of each separate U A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government Formal limits in America date back to the 1682 Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties, and the colonial frame of government of the same year, authored by William Penn and providing for triennial rotation of the provincial council, the upper house of the colonial legislature. William Penn ( October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) was founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, ^[2] (See also term limits in the United States). Term limits to offices in the United States: Historical background Term limits or Rotation in office, dates back to the American

Russian Federation has a common rule for head of state, though allows the President to serve more than two terms if they're not consecutive. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The President of Russia (Президент России or the President of the Russian Federation, Президент Российской For governors of federal subjects, the same two-term limit existed in the 1990's, but since 2004 there have been no term limits for governors. Russia is a Federation which consists of 83  subjects. These subjects are of equal federal rights in the sense that they have equal

Term limits are also common in Latin America, where most countries are also presidential republics. Early in the last century, the Mexican revolutionary Francisco Madero, popularized the slogan Sufragio Efectivo, no Reelección (effective suffrage, no reelection). In keeping with that principle, members of the Congress of Mexico (the Chamber of Deputies and Senate) cannot be reelected for the next immediate term under article 50 and 59 of the Constitution of Mexico, adopted in 1917. Congress (formally Congreso de la Unión or Congress of the Union) is the Legislative branch of the Mexican government. The Chamber of Deputies (in Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, Mexico 's bicameral The Senate ( Spanish: Cámara de Senadores or Senado) is the upper house of Mexico 's Bicameral Congress. The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1917 is the present Constitution of Mexico. Likewise, the President of Mexico is limited to a single six-year term. The Constitutional Citizen President of the United Mexican States (the official title in Spanish is Ciudadano Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos This makes every presidential election in Mexico a non-incumbent election.

Countries which operate a parliamentary system of government are less likely to employ term limits on their leaders. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which This is because such leaders rarely have a set "term" at all: rather, they serve as long as they have the confidence of the parliament, a period which could potentially last for life. A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a Parliament or other assembly of elected representatives to give members of parliament (or TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A  parliament is a Legislature, especially in those Nevertheless, such countries may impose term limits on the holders of other offices—in republics, for example, a ceremonial presidency may have a term limit, especially if the office holds reserve powers. In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of Government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the Head of state without the

Term limits may be divided into two broad categories: consecutive and lifetime. With consecutive term limits, a legislator is limited to serving a particular number of years in that particular office. Upon hitting the limit in one office or chamber, a legislator may run for election to the other chamber or leave the legislature. After a set period of time (usually two years), the clock resets on the limit, and the legislator may run for election to his/her original seat and serve up to the limit again.

With lifetime limits, on the other hand, once a legislator has served up to the limit, she/he may never again run for election to that office. Lifetime limits are much more restrictive than consecutive limits.

Offices of local government, such as a mayoralty, may also have term limits. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government

See also

• Term limits in the United States

References

1. ^ Robert Struble, Jr. Term limits to offices in the United States: Historical background Term limits or Rotation in office, dates back to the American , Treatise on Twelve Lights, chapter six, part II, "Rotation in History."
2. ^ Francis N. Thorpe, ed. , The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws. . . , 7 vols. (Washington, D. C. : Government Printing Office, 1909) 5:3048, 3055-56, 3065.

External links

• Real Term Limits: Now More Than Ever, an article by Doug Bandow in favor of term limits. Douglas (Doug Bandow is a former columnist with Copley News Service and former senior fellow at the Cato Institute.