Government and Politics Issues | |
Effects of Voluntary Term Limits |
Term limits have been part of the conservative agenda for several years,
and the enactment of federal term limits for members of Congress was part
of the 1994 Republican "Contract with America." But that legislation
failed, and public policy expert Merrill Matthews Jr. says support may be
waning. Proponents have encouraged congressional candidates to take a voluntary
pledge to limit their service -- typically to three two-year terms in the
House or two six-year terms in the Senate. Though a few Democrats have made
a pledge, most pledges have come from Republicans -- so that, in effect,
voluntary limits amount to political "unilateral disarmament."
This could make a difference in Republicans' slim control of Congress.
For this and other reasons, many people are rethinking their support for
term limits -- for instance, Texas Republicans recently removed support
for term limits from their state party platform. According to U.S. Term Limits, an advocacy group, 21 states and 3,000
municipalities have imposed term limits on those elected to local and state
offices. While mandatory terms limits force the bad politicians out with
the good, says Matthews, voluntary term limits force out only the good ones,
because they are primarily the only ones who'll make a pledge and stick
to it. Source: Merrill Matthews Jr. (vice president of domestic policy, National
Center for Policy Analysis), "Term Limits Have Lost Their Attractiveness,"
Dallas Morning News, June 26, 1998. |
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