According to the Constitution, the proper role of government is to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” In order to ensure that the government did not abuse it’s power, the Framers established checks and balances (Macey, 53). Accordingly, in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, the Framers made it the job of the legislative branch to create laws that are necessary and proper to the execution of the Constitution. However, in regards to Congressmen, the Constitution as it stands does not effectively check the incentives that the possibility of indefinite terms creates. Term limits must be established in order to encourage our Congressmen to act in accordance with the purpose of our government. Section One of this paper outlines the role of a member of the House of Representatives. Section Two explains how the current system doesn’t incentivize representatives to act in line with their proper role. Section Three demonstrates how enacting term limits works to incentivize lawmakers to act in ways consistent with their proper function.
To the Framers, Congressmen are advocates for their constituents who are judged as fit for office based on the votes of their constituents (Macey, 50-51). To be fit for office meant that the people still thought that their representative was acting in line with their interests and was competent (Macey, 51). If this was not the case, the people had the right to vote them out of office and elect someone who they thought would better represent them. Therefore, to the Framers, democracy acted as a protection against ineffective representatives and as a method ...
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...e form of disincentive for politicians from unfairly seeking reelection through the support of money and influential persons. In a democracy the vote of the people is a check to the power of the legislature (Macey, 51). Without a barrier such as term limits to incentivize public service over a public career, the people’s check on the power of the legislature is diminished.
Works Cited
Macey, Johnathan R. "Representative Democracy." Faculty Scholarship Series, January 1, 1993, 49-55. http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/1651.
Carey, John M. Term Limits and Legislative Representation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. http://books.google.com/books?id=lPGdEQwXXjQC&pg=PA184&lpg=PA184&dq=antifederalist+term+limits&source=bl&ots=5FkjYN47yS&sig=MtmpVHiKVSrpS9QXURNCUxV2_eQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ma8vU4_7Gaq30AHQloGoDA&ved=0CDIQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q&f=false
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