Term Limits

Extracted Attributes

• Types

  Lifetime limits, consecutive term limits.

• Purpose

  Eliminate the potential for 'president for life', check the concentration of power in the executive, curb authoritarianism, limit government corruption, prevent the emergence of a permanent political class, and allow a greater number of citizens the chance to rule.

• Definition

  A legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office.

• Circumvention Tactics

  Repression of the opposition, electoral manipulation, foreign support.

• Circumvention Strategies

  Constitutional amendments, judicial reinterpretation, using placeholders, cancelling or delaying elections.

• US Presidential Term Limit

  Maximum of two four-year terms, established by the Twenty-Second Amendment.

• US Congressional Term Limits

  None at the federal level; states cannot impose them on federal legislators.

• Historical Supporter (Ancient)

  Aristotle

• Circumvention Rate (2020 analysis)

  Nearly one in four incumbents (approx. 25%) facing term limits seek to circumvent them.

• Negative Impacts (Research Studies)

  Increase legislative polarization, reduce legislative skills of politicians, reduce legislative productivity of politicians, weaken legislatures vis-à-vis the executive, and reduce voter turnout.

• Historical Supporter (US Founding Father)

  Thomas Jefferson

Timeline

• Aristotle supported term limits to limit government corruption and prevent the emergence of a permanent political class, advocating for the periodic rotation of government officials. (Source: Web Search)

  Ancient Athens

• The Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, officially imposing term limits for the US presidency. (Source: Web Search)

  1951-02-27

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton that individual states could not limit the terms of their own federal legislators through state statute. (Source: Web Search)

  1995-05

• Attempts to circumvent term limits became increasingly prevalent in African states, with few such attempts prior to this period. (Source: Wikipedia)

  Post-2000

• An analysis revealed that nearly one in four incumbents who face term limits seek to circumvent them through various strategies. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2020

• A research project noted that attempts to circumvent term limits had become increasingly prevalent in African states over time. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025

Term limit

A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to eliminate the potential for "president for life", check the concentration of power in the executive, and curb authoritarianism. Term limits may be a lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve, or a limit on the number of consecutive terms. According to a 2020 analysis, nearly one in four incumbents who face term limits seek to circumvent the term limits through various strategies, including constitutional amendments, working with the judiciary to reinterpret the term limits, let a placeholder govern for the incumbent, and cancelling or delaying elections. Incumbents that seek to circumvent term limits frequently use repression of the opposition, electoral manipulation and foreign support to enable their circumvention. According to a 2025 research project, attempts to circumvent term limits had become increasingly prevalent in African states over time, with few such attempts prior to 2000 and many such attempts post-2000.

Web Search Results

• Term limit - Wikipedia

  A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to eliminate the potential for "president for life", check the concentration of power in the executive, and curb authoritarianism. Term limits may be a lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve, or a limit on the number of consecutive terms. [...] Term limits may take the form of consecutive term limits or lifetime term limits. With consecutive term limits, an officeholder can only serve a certain number of terms before they have to stop running for that office. After a set period of time, the clock resets on the limit, and the officeholder may run for election to their original office and serve up to the limit again. With lifetime limits, once an officeholder has served up to the limit, they may never again run for election to that [...] Between 1960 and 2010, more than one quarter of term-limited presidents successfully extended or violated their term limits to stay in power, and the enforcement of term limits is recognized as one of the great challenges in democratic development. Term limits typically receive greater domestic and international recognition than other mechanisms of democracy, and attempts to violate term limits are typically met with strong resistance by a country's population and on the world stage. The

• Term Limits: Overview | Research Starters - EBSCO

  Term limits refer to legal restrictions on the number of terms an elected official can serve in office. Many democratic governments implement these limits, but in the US, term limits were not uniformly established for federal positions until the Twenty-Second Amendment, which restricts the presidency to two terms, was ratified in 1951. While some states and municipalities have enacted their own term limits, federal offices such as the Senate and House of Representatives remain without such [...] Term limits legally restrict the number of times an elected official may seek reelection. Many democratic governments impose term limits on various elected officials. However, in the United States, there were originally no term limits mandated for any federal positions, despite considerable debate on the issue during the drafting of the US Constitution. Only with the ratification of the Twenty-Second Amendment in 1951 were term limits officially imposed for the US presidency. Many states did [...] Term limits have been part of the political fabric since the birth of representative democracy. In ancient Athens, Aristotle supported term limits both in order to limit government corruption, and to prevent the emergence of a permanent political class. He also argued that the periodic rotation of government officials allowed a greater number of citizens the chance to rule, producing a greater number of qualified politicians.

• Term limits in the United States - Wikipedia

  In the context of the politics of the United States, term limits restrict the number of terms of office an officeholder may serve. At the federal level, the president of the United States can serve a maximum of two four-year terms, with this being limited by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution that came into force on February 27, 1951. Some state government offices are also term-limited, including executive "Executive (government)"), legislative, and judicial offices. [...] Research studies have shown that legislative term limits increase legislative polarization, reduce the legislative skills of politicians, reduce the legislative productivity of politicians, weaken legislatures vis-à-vis the executive, and reduce voter turnout. Parties respond to the implementation of term limits by recruiting candidates for office on more partisan lines. States that implement term limits in the state legislatures are associated with also developing more powerful House speakers. [...] Term limits are also referred to as rotation in office. That specific terminology is often associated with the Founding Father and later president Thomas Jefferson given his use of it in his political arguments. ## Historical background [edit] ### Constitution [edit]

• What are term limits?

  Term limits set a legal restriction on the length of time an elected official may hold office. Term Limits laws affect how many terms and how many years an individual may hold a specific office. Term limits laws may bar a termed out official from holding office for life or may set a time frame for which someone may sit out before running for the same office again. # Do members of the U.S. Congress have term limits? No, members of Congress do not have term limits. [...] In May 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995), that individual states could not limit the terms of their own federal legislators through state statute. However, the states may impose term limits on Congress through an amendment to the Constitution (just as the 22nd Amendment imposes term limits on the President). The qualifications for congressional office are explicitly stated in the qualifications clause of the Constitution which must

• Term Limits - Center for Effective Government

  Term limits would remove from office high-quality elected officials who the voters like. Term limits would reduce the incentives of elected officials to work hard and please the voters. Most incumbent success is attributable to the popularity of the candidates, not the institutional advantages of incumbency. Empirically, term limits appear to reduce economic growth and increase ideological polarization. [...] Most Americans are unhappy with their current political system, which includes many entrenched incumbent politicians who seem out of touch, hold extreme views, and face little serious electoral competition. Term limits are a popular solution to this problem. If entrenched incumbents are the problem, we can “throw the rascals out” by making them legally ineligible to run for reelection. [...] Therefore, from a theoretical standpoint, term limits have at least two troubling effects: they take away an option from voters that they have previously selected, and they reduce the incentive for incumbents to work hard to please the voters. > "Term limits take away an option from voters that they have previously selected and they reduce the incentive for incumbents to work hard to please the voters."

• Instance Of

  Q7725634