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 …show more content…
Individual rights are involved because members of congress that have been their positions for many years may have prejudices and grudges against certain people, groups and parties, and this may affect their decision during the passing of laws or the approval of a constitutional amendment, therefore, it is for the benefit of peoples right in general, to have members of congress that are not allowed to serve indefinitely, otherwise not only will ideas stagnate, but prejudices that may infringe upon peoples equality when it comes to the passing of laws will remain in congress for extended periods of time and be able to cause greater negative
Legislation to limits congressional terms is not as published as gun control, but it is a domestic policy issue that many American are very concerned about. The founding fathers of America did not indent careerism in politics. Imposing limits on congressional terms is the only way for true democracy to flourish. The issue of limits to congressional term is not a new topic of debate in the United States.
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.
The Senate is also important because each Senator serves six years in office making it difficult for them to “yield to the impulse of sudden and violent passions” and allows them to gain experience and make minimal to no errors (pg. 337). Federalist Paper Sixty-Three emphasizes that having Senators serve six years allows them to be more responsible of the decisions they take while in office. James Madison wrote “It is evident that an assembly elected for so short a term as to be unable to provide more than one or two links in a chain of measures” (pg. 338).
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
The term length for a Senator is six-years, with one-third of Senators being up for election every two-years. This keeps a constant rotation of new ideas and people within the Senate, while providing stability to the legislative branch. Eligibility for a Senator requires you to have attained at least 30-years of age and a citizen for at least nine-years. According to Madison, this helps prevents the inexperienced and foreigners who wish to cause harm from being
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
In effect, the individual member leans towards individualistic policies that are beneficial to maintaining office. In Mayhew’s argument he presents the “marginal congressman”, making the point that individuals should ignore national trends and, “…treat them as acts of God over which they can exercise no control.” (p. 129). As he states further, “It makes much more sense to devote resources to things over which they think they can have some control.”
Are you opposed to the idea of congress members having term limits ? If you are I can understand why but personally I am not. Term limits would be very effective to see change, to give the best-qualified members a chance and restore government accountability. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to have term limits so there would actually be a chance of change ? Of course it would be a good idea !
Mystie Robinson American Government Term Limits of Congress The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature of the United States of America’s federal government. Congress has two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of Congress can spend many years in office. They don’t have term limits.
The popularity of the members of Congress and Congress overall has been declining as the years pass and time changes. The dissatisfaction and disapproval of the public is so high because according to David Mayhew who wrote Congress the Electoral Connection members of Congress are single-minded people who are only focused on reelection, involve in “smart” behavior such as position taking, credit-claiming and advertisement. Also, according to Mayhew parties are weak, however, that is all not true people tend to vote more so for their party than the person in general. Arnold the writer of Logic of Congressional Outcome, states that Congress has many things to take into account such as citizen preference, robe-challenger, has to take into account
The 22nd amendment states that, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice...” Recent discussions and proposals have been put forth to repeal or modify the amendment. No person should have that opportunity to surrender to the charms of power. Two four year terms should be more than enough time to make a positive change for the nation. Two Presidential terms should be the limit of power, and I am not the only person who believes so.
The Senate and House of Representatives comprise the two chambers of the United States Congress. While both houses are representative bodies and jointly oversee the executive branch, both must approve all bills before the president, but both chambers have different roles according to the Constitution. The House of Representatives has 435 members apportioned to the house from across the United States. States with larger populations receive more seats within the house.
The House of Representatives was founded as a result of the Great Compromise. The Constitution allows Congress to determine the capacity of the House and to divide the representation in relevance to each states population. Representatives are elected to serve a term of 2 years. To become a Representative one must be at least 25 years of age, be a U.S citizen for a minimum of 7 years, and must be a resident of the state, which he/she wishes to represent. As for the Senate, voters elect two senators from each state regardless of its population every 6 years.
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
This means that citizens can vote for different rules and laws so people are equal. If there were no rights certain people would suffer more from not being able to do things such as not being able to drive, or having to do things such as going to military training, but if everyone agrees you may be able to change laws and rules by voting. This is in order to live a happy life. Another reason to be civilized is so the