• Franklin D. Roosevelt's long term in office led Americans to impose term limits on the presidency.Roosevelt Memorial image by dwight9592 from Fotolia.com
  
  Term limits set a maximum number of years that a public official, usually in an executive branch, may serve in that office. For example, the 22nd Amendment limits the U.S. President to two terms in office. Conversely, many members of legislatures and some executives in the United States do not face term limits and may serve as long as they keep winning elections. Occasionally, the American electorate calls for term limits for members of Congress and state and local officials and there are strong arguments for and against term limits.
  
  

Concentration of Power

• Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only U.S. President to have served more than two terms. Under the 22nd Amendment, his successor Harry Truman could have run for a third term, but decided against it. Even Roosevelt's strongest supporters feared that he had amassed too much power. Supporters of the 22nd Amendment feared that the president would become just as dictatorial as the totalitarian states opposing the allies during World War II.
  
  

Influence of Interest Groups

• Similarly, members of Congress and state legislatures must split their time and energies between the constituents and concerns in the state or national capitol. Term limit proponents argue that elected officials listen more to interest groups based in the capitol than to their constituents. Legislators who are too tied to special interests pose a threat to democracy because special interest groups have more access to lawmakers than the people who put them in office in the first place.
  
  

Incumbency Advantages

• Incumbent elected officials usually enjoy an electoral advantage in terms of fundraising, name recognition and a record of accomplishments. Between 1914, when the 17th Amendment requiring direct election of U.S. Senators took effect, and 2004, Senators had a reelection rate of 78 percent. Most years, House members have even higher reelection rates. Term limit advocates argue that term limits would limit the effect of incumbent advantages over challengers.
  
  

Governing Expertise

• Passing legislation and appropriating money requires a certain level of expertise and knowledge of parliamentary and institutional procedures. Senior members of legislatures represent institutional memory and can mentor rookies on the established procedure. If large numbers of new members constitute a legislature every session, the members will likely spend an inordinate amount of time learning existing or developing new procedures.
  
  

Lame Duck Status

• Lame duck status means that a member is not facing reelection whether voluntarily or not. Political scientists as well as the framers of the Constitution theorized that elected officials' desire for reelection tend to keep them honest and responsive to the voters. An elected official entering a lame duck term does not have that motivation to act in the interest of the voters.
  
  

Voters' Choice

• Representative democracy means that citizens may choose any adult to represent them in government. Since term limits remove experienced politicians from the pool of possible candidates, opponents of term limits and the 22nd Amendment argue that term limits are inherently undemocratic. If a person voluntarily stands for reelection and the people elect that candidate, they should be allowed to do so, according to opponents of term limits.