Current Events: Term Limits - Civics Learning Project

This week, President Trump mused about serving a third term. Can he? While the 1787 draft of the Constitution did not restrict presidential terms, George Washington set a precedent when he stepped down after two terms. In the early days of The Republic, this was an essential demonstration that America would have no kings and no dictators. His act of humility set the stage for future leaders. Then, in the midst of a double crisis of The Great Depression and World War Two, Franklin Delano Roosevelt broke the mold, running a third and fourth time. After World War Two came to a close, lawmakers across the country showed overwhelming support for a Constitutional Amendment to codify the 2 term limit and the 22nd Amendment became law in 1951.

Members of Congress have no such limits on their time in office. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate can serve unlimited terms as long as they continue to be elected. Public opinion, meanwhile, shows strong support for term limits for elected officials, and especially for members of Congress. Some argue that entrenched career politicians are out of touch with the people, may be influenced by lobbyists, and cite how difficult it is to vote incumbents out. Others warn that term limits would create a revolving door of novices without the institutional knowledge to make good public policy, and that it takes years to become an effective lawmaker. In 1995, The Supreme Court struck down an attempt at Congressional term limits in U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, indicating a Constitutional amendment would be required for any such change. Members in both the House and the Senate have introduced a joint resolution, H.J.Res 12, which proposes a Constitutional amendment to impose a limit of two terms for senators, and three terms for members of the House.

April 21-27th is the National Week of Conversation.This week’s Current Event explores debates over term limits, discussions of future amendments, and the political hoopla surrounding it all; term limits would make a good topic for your students’ conversation. The CLP lesson plan gives students a chance to weigh in on the issue of term limits by writing their own editorial, expressing their views on what course we should chart.

Essential Questions:

Are term limits appropriate for all elected officials?
Would term limits make the US Congress more representative of The People?
What conditions led to the 22nd Amendment?
Are the negative consequences of term limits worth the benefits?

Vocabulary:

term limits – a legal restriction on the length of time an elected official may hold office.
incumbent – the current holder of an office or position
institutional knowledge – the combination of experiences, processes, data, expertise, values, and information a person has accumulated in a role
entrenched – to establish something very strongly so that it is very difficult to change

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