Abstract
A term limit is a statutory or constitutional restriction on the number of terms that an individual is allowed to hold a particular elected office. The term limit may or may not be grandfathered. Full grandfathering allows officeholders at the time that term limits are enacted to be exempt from term limits, whereas limited grandfathering allows such officeholders to be treated as if they have previously served no terms. Some term limits allow an individual who is forced out of office by term limits to hold the same office again after a specified period of time has elapsed while many do not. In recent years there has been heated debate over the desirability of term limits.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bender, B., Haas, T.C., and Kim, S. (2001). “Sorting, shirking, and term limits. Mimeo,” paper presented at the Public Choice Society Meetings, San Antonio, March.
Denzau, A. T. and Munger, M.C. (1986). “Legislators and interest groups: how unorganized interests get represented.” American Political Science Review, 18 (March): 89–106.
Dick, A.R. and Lott, J.R. Jr. (1993). “Reconciling voters’ behavior with legislative term limits.” Journal of Public Economics, 50 (January): 1–14.
Francis, W.L. and Kenny, L. W. (1997). “Equilibrium projections of the consequences of term limits upon expected tenure, institutional turnover, and membership experience.” Journal of Politics, 59 (February): 240–252.
Garrett, E. (1996). “Term limitations and the myth of the citizen-legislator,” Cornell Law Review, 81: 623–697.
Gilmour, J.B. and Rothstein, P. (1994). “Term limitation in a dynamic model of partisan balance.” American Journal of Political Science, 38 (August): 770–796.
Grofman, B. and Sutherland, N. (1996). “The effects of term limits when competition is endogenized: a preliminary model,” in B. Grofman (ed.) Legislative Term Limits: Public Choice Perspectives. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 175–182.
Lott, J.R. Jr. (1987). “Political cheating.” Public Choice, 52 (March): 169–187.
Lott, J.R. Jr. (1990). “Attendance rates, political shirking, and the effect of post-office employment.” Economic Inquiry, 28 (January): 133–150.
Petracca, M.P. (1996). “A history of rotation in office,” in B. Grofman (ed.) Legislative Term Limits: Public Choice Perspectives. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 247–277.
Polsby, N. (1968). “The institutionalization of the U.S. House of Representatives,” American Political Science Review, 62 (March): 144–168.
Polsby, N. (1991). “Constitutional mischief: what’s wrong with term limits.” The American Prospect (Summer): 40–43.
Reed, W.R. and Schansberg, D.E. (1994). “An analysis of the impact of congressional term limits.” Economic Inquiry, 32 (January): 79–91.
Reed, W.R., Schansberg, D.E., Wilbanks, J., and Zhu, Z. (1998). “The relationship between congressional spending and tenure with an application to term limits.” Public Choice, 94 (January): 85–104.
Van Beek, J.R. (1991). “Does the decision to retire increase the amount of political shirking?” Public Finance Quarterly, 19 (October): 444–456.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bender, B. (2004). Term Limits 2. In: Rowley, C.K., Schneider, F. (eds) The Encyclopedia of Public Choice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-47828-4_198
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-47828-4_198
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-8607-0
Online ISBN: 978-0-306-47828-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive