Congress And Term Limits
Whether or not Congress should have term limits
has been a long debated question
that is proposed as an amendment to the
qualifications clause of the
Constitution. There are excellent arguments
on either side of the issue;
unconstitutionality versus limiting power and
diversity versus seniority are
just a few. First are the arguments that term
limits are democratic. The
advocates of this point of view believe that
creating term limits would not only
add diversity to Congress, but also
provide Congress members that are more
accountable and not as isolated from
their constituents. On the other hand, the
arguments against term limits are
equally notable. Those opposed to term limits
believe that "[they] are
antidemocratic, restricting people’s electoral
choices," and that they would
not make the Congress members more accountable,
but, instead, "shift the
focus of members of Congress even more in the
direction of local and
immediate concerns." There are good and bad points to
both sides of the
argument. For instance, opposition of the term limits say
it’s
unconstitutional, but we do have term limits on the presidency.
Also,
advocates want to Congress members from staying in a long time.
However, most
don’t stay in over twelve years anyway and if the current
members in seniority
all leave who will be able to lead with enough wisdom
and discernment? Either
way you go someone’s not going to be happy. If only
we could be unhappy and
right,
though.