Cazenovia College | Should There Be Term Limits for Congressman and Senators? | | | Brodfuehrer, Jason P | 4/12/2012 |
BACKGROUND Currently in the United States, we have a system setup where the average citizen is allowed to run for a seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate as long as they meet specific age and citizenship requirements. According to the United States Constitution, “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen (U.S. Archives 1). Additionally the United States Constitution states that, “No Person shall
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Also, how could we protect one aspect of the current system that we have in place so we never have all freshman Senators and Representatives in office. The danger would potentially lead to them possibly be persuaded into corruption by outside influences.
POLICY STATEMENT
The issue of limiting the number of terms that a Congressman or a Senator can seek re-election is a huge hot button issue today. It is also an issue that has a rather large conflict of interest stamp behind it. The reason for this is because our Senators and Congressman are in direct control of whether or not this issue is brought out of a committee and eligible to be sent to the States for potential ratification. There is a Constitutional way to get around the Senate and the House from bringing up this issue, but the problem is that we as a nation haven’t done it in over 200 years. What I am referring to is a state’s ability to call a Constitutional Convention to propose and ratify an Amendment.
During a Constitutional Convention, special delegates from each state would gather in each state’s respective capital and would vote to decide whether or not they would want to ratify the proposed Amendment. While these conventions are in session, a major problem that might occur could
Continental Congress framing the new federal republic. Governmental authority rests in both national and state governments. The failing articles of confederation were ratified to create a federal constitution establishing a strong national government. The continental congress wanted a stronger national government represented by republicans and not direct democracy. The articles of confederacy were failing because it was weak in regulations of taxation, international trade, slave laws, industrial tariffs, and a federal military force.
Term limits have originated before the American Revolution. Ancient countries had term limits and rotations. Some of the states had their own term limits in place before the forming of America. “Until the Seventeenth Amendment (1913) provided for direct popular election of senators, members of the Senate were appointed by state legislatures for six-year terms, were to represent the elite members of society, and were to be attuned more to the interests of property than to those of the population. Today members of both the House and the Senate are elected directly by the people. The 435 members of the House are elected from districts apportioned according to population; the 100 members of the Senate are elected by state, with two senators from
There are several arguments that speak for Congressional term limits. To begin with, term limits were contained in America’s first governing document, the Articles of Confederation. Back then in the eighteenth century this tool was chosen by the founding fathers to avoid long-term political careerism and the abuse of the power legislators hold. Following this statement it becomes clear that term limits are needed at all levels of government, however it is especially vital to apply them to Congress for numerous reasons, some of them being large electoral advantages exercised by
Imposing Congressional term limits for the members of the congress would be a terrific idea. This is because if the Congress knows that their position in Congress is limited, they will get things done. Mark Levin, author of The Liberty Amendment stated that no person may serve more than 12 years as a member of congress. 12 years is enough for Congress to pass new laws. Now if the propose law has not been approved by the other members of the Congress by the time their term is over, then the next person that steps up can continue to pursue the law. No members should stay longer than they are supposed to. The term limit is necessary because there are other people in power that has been there for more than a decade. It's true that some of them
There is a lot of argument regarding the issue of term limits, in which a service in elective office after a fixed and specified number of terms is directed. The idea of issuing term limits is not only a damage to the Constitution, but also a quick fix to a problem that may just end up affecting severe outcomes down the line. Authorizing term limits to deal with the corruption among congressmen is not a normal solution. If some parts of the system were dishonest, term limits would basically get cleared of everyone, those upsetting Congress both negatively and positively. At that juncture new representatives are selected and they become corrupt and are soon thrown out, and this cycle of continuing corruption will go on and on for a while, and would not be fixed. Likewise, the fact that term limit gives a
We are here as delegates of the Constitutional Convention representing the small state of Delaware. We propose to you a few ideas that express the interests of Delaware as a state. We are very much aware that not everyone will agree and not every one of our concern will be dealt with. Thus, we are more than willing to make a compromise as long as we are heard and our ideas are respected. We hope as the meeting comes to an end to have a plan to create a constitution protecting the rights of people. The three issues we desire to tackle today are state representation, counting slaves in population, and the process of electing the national executive.
If the Supreme Court Justices were subjected to term limits there confirmation hearings would be not as brutal. The Senate would know the appointee
Congressional terms have no limits. Controversy exists between those who think the terms should be limited and those who believe that terms should remain unlimited. The group that wants to limit the terms argues that the change will promote fresh ideas and reduce the possibility of decisions being made for self-interest. Those who oppose term limits believe that we would sacrifice both the stability and experience held by veteran politicians. They also point out that our election process allows the voter to limit terms, at their discretion. While experience and stability are important considerations, congressional terms should be limited to a maximum of two.
serve in Congress. By the middle of 1995, almost half of the states had limited
To lessen the corruption in our Congress many Americans as will myself believe the answer to problem is congressional term limits.
Lowering the voting age, would also represent a problem. Do voters under the age of 18 really have the judgment to choose the best candidate for the job?, I do not think so.
There has been a debate about lowering the U.S.A's legal voting age from 18 to 16 years old. There are some people are against it, arguing that the younger generation shows no interest in politics. Others believe that lowering the voting age by two years could potentionally show positive results.
The voting age should no be lowerd.U.S. citizens are not even legal adults at the age of sixteen.
Recently, people have called out for the U.S. legal voting age to be lowered. If this is to happen the voting age would go down two years, from 18-16 years old. While some say it would help increase the voter participation, others have good reasons to think the opposite.
Although, some believe the age of 18 should be the minimum voting age, I would have to argue that the voting age should be lowered. I beleive the percentage of participation would increase during electons, if voting age is lowered. Our younger generation generates valuable opinions about presidental elections and should be alowed to vote at the age of 16. The United States would greatly benefit from lowering the voting age.