One solution to term limits in
One solution to term limits in
Before we knew it as the United States Constitution, we all knew it as the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was just too weak as in: each state had one vote in Congress, there was no executive branch to enforce laws passed by Congress, there was no national court system, and etc… Before it could be ratified there was great concern between the delegates that were present at the convention. The main concern they had was the type of legislature. The representatives of larger states wanted the seats in the legislature to be determined by the size of the state. The representatives from the smaller states wanted to have equal representation in Congress. They negotiated on this situation by allowing a bicameral legislature,…
SECTION 1. No person who has served three terms as a Representative shall be eligible for election to the House of Representatives. For purposes of this section, the election of a person to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives shall be included as one term in determining the number of terms that such person has served as a Representative if the person fills the vacancy for more than…
As one can see, campaign finance reform has been around for a while, not that many people were really aware of it until the Citizens United v. FEC case of 2010. Citizens United was founded in 1988 by a Washington political consultant, Floyd Brown who received major funding from the Koch brothers, industrialist who own the secondly largest privately owned company in the US (Mayer, 2010). They gained fame by suing the Federal Election Commission (FEC), leading to a notorious Supreme Court case which eliminated some restrictions on how corporations can spend money in elections. Back in 1971, the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) was the main United States federal law that regulates political fundraising and spending. Its original focus was…
An incumbent is defined as the person currently holding office. Through a political lense, incumbency has proven to be a significant advantage in the field of reelection.The graph provided above is hard evidence that incumbency often results in reelection. From 1948 to 1996 it is obvious that incumbency rates in the House of Representatives, and the Senate are high. In 1960 over 90% of incumbents in the Senate were elected, and in throughout 1948 to 1996 the House has steadily averaged around 90% of incumbents reelected. Another fact being, rates of incumbents reelected have increased over time in both the House and Senate. I can only imagine that these rates will continue to increase with the growth of media over time.…
The Fathers of Confederation conceived of the Senate as a “chamber of sober second thought.” However, almost ever since its creation, as the unelected arm of the legislature, people have suggested ways in which to reform the upper house. Concerns of illegitimate representation, party loyalty, and patronage are the main reasons the argument for change continues. This paper aims to review a couple of recent reform proposals, and then argue, leaving constitutional practicality behind, that the Senate should receive a major overhaul in how it is formed and represented.…
Although their are pro's and con's for each argument, I believe that it is better for the country to have no term limits on supreme court justices. It seems to me that the problems term limits cause, such as strategic retirement, are preferable to the alternative possibility, that the justices begin making decisions based on what would best help their personal careers in the…
In Congress, there are several different people that uphold various responsibilities, in which all play a very large role. To start with, there are two houses, the House…
Expertise and experience in government has become proportionately more valuable and can be better that a fresh perspective. In addition, term limits may prevent the best person for the job from being elected. Voters who believe extended incumbency undermines our democratic system free to vote against their particular incumbents. Denying other voters the right to choose a particular candidate whom they have chosen many times before is inherently unjust. Our system of representative democracy rests on citizens choosing the legislatures that they believe are the best choose despite how many years that they have served in…
Adler, Jonathan. “The Erroneous argument the senate has a ‘constitutional duty’ to consider a supreme court nominee.” The Washington Post…
The Presidency as a whole has changed in many ways throughout the course of history; specifically, in the relationship between the president and the public. The Constitution is vague when it describes communication of the president: a president must say why they veto a bill, and they must inform the public on the state of the union (Ellis 82). President George Washington had the task of establishing how the president would interact with the public. During the early days of the presidency the President communicated seldomly with the public; this is because the president was supposed to be held at a higher standard than the public, and they were supposed to communicate with Congress. Washington worked towards having the office of the president…
In 1947, the term limit imposed on presidents was implemented. I agree on the idea of presidents having term limits. Having a president in power for too long is not going to benefit the citizens. That president will end up having too much power. They are not going serve and listen to the public the way they should because they will think that they are in control of everyone.…
The practice of Congressmen keeping lifetime positions just increases the thirst for power in the men and women whose titles of importance generally determine their ability to keep a job. The recycling of these responsibilities would bring forth new ideas and perspectives to Congress. Term limits are already being issued in several states and need to continue to be addressed. Until boundaries are placed on our Congressional leaders, they will continue to take advantage of the system they seem to continuously abuse.…
A second structure of Congress is committees. There are twenty-one standing committees in the House and seventeen in the Senate; each committee serves an important function. Ultimately, the committee system helps the members of Congress by allowing for a division of labor. Congress at large simply does not have the time or expertise needed for every piece of legislation, which is why committees are so important. The small groups can make things happen more effectively than if Congress as a whole had to work on the legislation. A congressional seniority system exists in the committees where over time congressmen can rise to more powerful positions but with increased incumbency and members of Congress staying on longer there is less room for…
But did our founding fathers get it right? In my opinion they may have overlooked an important check on a very powerful branch of the government. I consider the legislative branch to be the most powerful of our branches. The legislative branch, also known as Congress, is very large having a total of 535 members, 100 Senators and 435 members of the House of Representatives. Senators are elected officials serving six year terms before coming up for reelection. Representatives are elected officials serving 2 year terms before coming up for reelection. Currently there is no limit to the number of terms a congressman can serve and in most cases a congressmen runs for reelection continually, meaning that, if they keep winning, they could basically hold their congressional seat for life. This, in effect, has produced professional politicians, a group of individuals with ongoing authority and influence. Is it wise to allow the legislative branch to continue with this optimal power position unchecked? Was this the intent of the founders who designed the…
Black Americans of today need to register to vote and make use of their voting rights if they want to see a change to the current state of democracy. In the…