Composition of Legislatures
Document Type
Contribution to Books
Publication Date
1-1-2007
Abstract
In 2003, a group called Oregon Term Limits began an effort to reinstate legislative term limits in their state. The preamble to their proposal initiative is a concise statement about some of the presumed benefits of a term limit law. It reads: "WHEREAS: Limiting the terms of legislators promotes varied public representations, broadens opportunities for public service, and makes the electoral process fairer by reducing the power of incumbency and the professional lobby..." (see http://www.oregontermlimits.org/index04.html).
There are at least four separate assumptions in this statement. First, it is assumed that term limits will create a broader demographic mix within the legislature ("promotes...public representation"). Second, it suggests that more people -- presumably average citizens -- will be able to serve ("broadens opportunities for public service"). Third, it suggests that electoral competition will increase ("reducing the power of incumbency"). Finally, it presumes that lobbyists will lose influence ("reducing the power of...the professional lobby.")
In this chapter, we examine the evidence as it bears on the first of these assumptions.
Publication Information
Moncrief, Gary; Powell, L.; and Story, T.. (2007). "Composition of Legislatures". Institutional Change in American Politics: The Case of Term Limits, 22-37.