Download or read book The Test of Time written by Rick Farmer and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2003 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Test of Time brings together fifteen outstanding empirical studies, contributed by top political scientists and state policymakers. This volume offers both case studies of key states and cross-state comparisons that examine how legislatures, legislators, and political linkages such as lobbying and electoral competition have been affected by the imposition of legislative term limits. This essential source includes both a comprehensive annotated bibliography of term limits literature and a history of the term limits movement.
Download or read book Legislative Term Limits Public Choice Perspectives written by Bernard Grofman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In developing Legislative Term Limits, the editor has included material that has explicit and testable models about the expected consequences of term limits that reflect Public Choice perspectives. This book contains the best efforts of economists and political scientists to predict the consequences of legislative term limits.
Download or read book Term Limits in State Legislatures written by John M. Carey and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2009-11-12 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has been predicted that term limits in state legislatures--soon to be in effect in eighteen states--will first affect the composition of the legislatures, next the behavior of legislators, and finally legislatures as institutions. The studies in Term Limits in State Legislatures demonstrate that term limits have had considerably less effect on state legislatures than proponents predicted. The term-limit movement--designed to limit the maximum time a legislator can serve in office--swept through the states like wildfire in the first half of the 1990s. By November 2000, state legislators will have been "term limited out" in eleven states. This book is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 legislators from all fifty states along with intensive interviews with twenty-two legislative leaders in four term-limited states. The data were collected as term limits were just beginning to take effect in order to capture anticipatory effects of the reform, which set in as soon as term limit laws were passed. In order to understand the effects of term limits on the broader electoral arena, the authors also examine data on advancement of legislators between houses of state legislatures and from the state legislatures to Congress. The results show that there are no systematic differences between term limit and non-term limit states in the composition of the legislature (e.g., professional backgrounds, demographics, ideology). Yet with respect to legislative behavior, term limits decrease the time legislators devote to securing pork and heighten the priority they place on the needs of the state and on the demands of conscience relative to district interests. At the same time, with respect to the legislature as an institution, term limits appear to be redistributing power away from majority party leaders and toward governors and possibly legislative staffers. This book will be of interest both to political scientists, policymakers, and activists involved in state politics. John M. Carey is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis. Richard G. Niemi is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester. Lynda W. Powell is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester.
Download or read book American Government 3e written by Glen Krutz and published by . This book was released on 2023-05-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black & white print. American Government 3e aligns with the topics and objectives of many government courses. Faculty involved in the project have endeavored to make government workings, issues, debates, and impacts meaningful and memorable to students while maintaining the conceptual coverage and rigor inherent in the subject. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. The book builds upon what students have already learned and emphasizes connections between topics as well as between theory and applications. The goal of each section is to enable students not just to recognize concepts, but to work with them in ways that will be useful in later courses, future careers, and as engaged citizens. In order to help students understand the ways that government, society, and individuals interconnect, the revision includes more examples and details regarding the lived experiences of diverse groups and communities within the United States. The authors and reviewers sought to strike a balance between confronting the negative and harmful elements of American government, history, and current events, while demonstrating progress in overcoming them. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement.
Download or read book Term Limits and Legislative Representation written by John M. Carey and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism written by Thad Kousser and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how legislature rules affect the behavior of its members and policies.
Download or read book The Failure of Term Limits in Florida written by Kathryn A. DePalo and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2015-01-20 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1992, Florida voters approved an amendment to the state’s Constitution creating eight-year term limits for legislators—making Florida the second-largest state, after California, to implement such a law. Eight years later, sixty-eight term-limited senators and representatives were forced to retire, and the state saw the highest number of freshman legislators since the first legislative session in 1845. Proponents view term limits as part of a battle against the rising political class and argue that limits will foster a more honest and creative body with ideal “citizen” legislators. However, in this comprehensive twenty-year study, the first of its kind to examine the effects of term limits in Florida, Kathryn DePalo shows nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, these limits created a more powerful governor, legislative staffers, and lobbyists. Because incumbency is now certain, leadership races—especially for Speaker—are sometimes completed before members have even cast a single vote. Furthermore, legislators rarely leave public office; they simply return to local offices, where they continue to exert influence. The Failure of Term Limits in Florida is a tour de force examination of the unintended and surprising consequences of the new incumbency advantage in the Sunshine State.
Download or read book Restoration written by George F. Will and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will, whose “thinking is stimulating, erudite, and makes for great reading” (The Boston Globe) comes a “biting, humorous, and perceptive” (The New York Times Book Review) argument for the necessity of term limits in Congress. The world’s oldest democracy—ours—has an old tradition of skepticism about government. However, the degree of dismay about government today is perhaps unprecedented in our history. Americans are particularly convinced that Congress has become irresponsible, either unwilling or incapable of addressing the nation’s problems—while it spends its time and our money on extending its members’ careers. Many Americans have come to believe fundamental reform is needed, specifically limits on the number of terms legislators can serve. In Restoration, George Will makes a compelling case, drawn from our history and his close observance of Congress, that term limits are now necessary to revive the traditional values of classical republican government, to achieve the Founders’ goal of deliberative democracy, and to restore Congress to competence and its rightful dignity as the First Branch of government. At stake, Will says, is the vitality of America’s great promise self-government under representative institutions. At issue is the meaning of representation. The morality of representative government, Will argues, does not merely permit, it requires representatives to exercise independent judgment rather than merely execute instructions given by constituents. However, careerism, which is a consequence of the professionalization of politics, has made legislators servile and has made the national legislature incapable of rational, responsible behavior. Term limits would restore the constitutional space intended by the Founders, the healthy distance between the electors and the elected that is necessary for genuine deliberation about the public interest. Blending the political philosophy of the Founders with alarming facts about the behavior of legislative careerists, Restoration demonstrates how term limits, by altering the motives of legislators, can narrow the gap between the theory and the practice of American democracy.
Download or read book Understanding Legislative Term Limits written by Edward Sternisha, J.D. and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010-10-16 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the reasoning behind the term limit laws and takes a closer look at the consequences of preventing an individual from serving too long.Allowing a dynasty of the rich and powerful to run the legislature or giving the average citizen a chance to serve...states with term limit laws are full of controversy. This book examines the pros and cons of term limits and what happens to our system of government when elected officials are booted out of office after a predetermined amount of time.Do we give the regular guy (or girl) an opportunity to make a difference or do we give up a wealth of knowledge and experience at a critical time in the governing process? While no other industry forces out the most experienced worker after serving long enough to become an effective part of the team, more and more State Legislatures have rules that do just that.
Download or read book Term Limits and Their Consequences written by Stanley M. Caress and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legislative term limits remain a controversial feature of the American political landscape. Term Limits and Their Consequences provides a clear, comprehensive, and nonpartisan look at all aspects of this contentious subject. Stanley M. Caress and Todd T. Kunioka trace the emergence of the grassroots movement that supported term limits and explain why the idea of term limits became popular with voters. At the same time, they put term limits into a broader historical context, illustrating how they are one of many examples of the publics desire to reform government. Utilizing an impressive blend of quantitative data and interviews, Caress and Kunioka thoughtfully discuss the impact of term limits, focusing in particular on the nations largest state, California. They scrutinize voting data to determine if term limits have altered election outcomes or the electoral chances of women and minority candidates, and reveal how restricting a legislators time in office has changed political careers and ambitions. Designed to transform American politics, term limits did indeed bring change, but in ways ranging far beyond those anticipated by both their advocates and detractors.
Download or read book Giving Up on Democracy written by Victor Kamber and published by Regnery Publishing. This book was released on 1995-10-01 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hottest political issue in America, term limits, embodies voter fury at incumbent officeholders and the failures of Congress. But now, in this controversial new book, Victor Kamber argues that term limits themselves are a disastrous quick fix and must be stopped.
Download or read book Legislating Without Experience written by Christopher Z. Mooney and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legislating Without Experience provides an in-depth analysis of individual states experiencing state legislative term limits as well as apples-to-apples comparisons with states that are untermed. It is a valuable description of the legislative process in each state and a quasi-experimental study of term limits.
Download or read book A More Perfect Constitution written by Larry J. Sabato and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-07-23 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The reader can't help but hold out hope that maybe someday, some of these sweeping changes could actually bring the nation's government out of its intellectual quagmire...his lively, conversational tone and compelling examples make the reader a more than willing student for this updated civics lesson." --The Hill The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for politics at the University of Virginia. A More Perfect Constitution presents creative and dynamic proposals from one of the most visionary and fertile political minds of our time to reinvigorate our Constitution and American governance at a time when such change is urgently needed, given the growing dysfunction and unfairness of our political system . Combining idealism and pragmatism, and with full respect for the original document, Larry Sabato's thought-provoking ideas range from the length of the president's term in office and the number and terms of Supreme Court justices to the vagaries of the antiquated Electoral College, and a compelling call for universal national service-all laced through with the history behind each proposal and the potential impact on the lives of ordinary people. Aware that such changes won't happen easily, but that the original Framers fully expected the Constitution to be regularly revised, Sabato urges us to engage in the debate and discussion his ideas will surely engender. During an election year, no book is more relevant or significant than this.
Download or read book Institutional Change in American Politics written by Karl T. Kurtz and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2009-12-18 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legislative term limits adopted in the 1990s are in effect in fifteen states today. This reform is arguably the most significant institutional change in American government of recent decades. Most of the legislatures in these fifteen states have experienced a complete turnover of their membership; hundreds of experienced lawmakers have become ineligible for reelection, and their replacements must learn and perform their jobs in as few as six years. Now that term limits have been in effect long enough for both their electoral and institutional effects to become apparent, their consequences can be gauged fully and with the benefit of hindsight. In the most comprehensive study of the subject, editors Kurtz, Cain, and Niemi and a team of experts offer their broad evaluation of the effects term limits have had on the national political landscape. "The contributors to this excellent and comprehensive volume on legislative term limits come neither to praise the idea nor to bury it, but rather to speak dispassionately about its observed consequences. What they find is neither the horror story of inept legislators completely captive to strong governors and interest groups anticipated by the harshest critics, nor the idyll of renewed citizen democracy hypothesized by its more extreme advocates. Rather, effects have varied across states, mattering most in the states that were already most professionalized, but with countervailing factors mitigating against extreme consequences, such as a flight of former lower chamber members to the upper chamber that enhances legislative continuity. This book is must reading for anyone who wants to understand what happens to major institutional reforms after the dust has settled." ---Bernard Grofman, Professor of Political Science and Adjunct Professor of Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine "A decade has passed since the first state legislators were term limited. The contributors to this volume, all well-regarded scholars, take full advantage of the distance afforded by this passage of time to explore new survey data on the institutional effects of term limits. Their book is the first major volume to exploit this superb opportunity." ---Peverill Squire, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Iowa Karl T. Kurtz is Director of the Trust for Representative Democracy at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Bruce Cain is Heller Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and the Director of the University of California Washington Center. Richard G. Niemi is Don Alonzo Watson Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester.
Download or read book How Our Laws are Made written by John V. Sullivan and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Implementing Term Limits written by Marjorie Ellen Sarbaugh-Thompson and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, 70 percent of the American public supports reforms that would limit the number of terms a state legislator may serve, and the advocacy group U.S. Term Limits promotes this reform at all levels of government. But are advocates correct that term limits ensure citizens dedicated to the common good—rather than self-serving career politicians—run government? Or does the enforced high rate of turnover undermine the legislature’s ability to function? In Implementing Term Limits, Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson and Lyke Thompson bring thirteen years of intensive research and 460 interviews to assess changes since Michigan’s implementation of term limits in 1993 and explore their implications. Paying special attention to term limits’ institutional effects, they also consider legislative representation, political accountability, and the role of the bureaucracy and interest groups in state legislatures. Their thorough study suggests that legislators are less accessible to officials and that there is a larger gap between legislators and their voters. Moreover, legislators become much more politically ambitious after term limits and spend more time on political activities. The selection of top chamber leaders is complicated by newcomers’ lack of knowledge about and experience working with the leaders they elect before being sworn in. As a result, term limits in Michigan fail to deliver on many of the “good government” promises that appeal to citizens. Implementing Term Limits makes a unique and valuable contribution to the debate over the best means by which to obtain truly democratic institutions.
Download or read book State Legislative Term Limits written by Keon S. Chi and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
