Term limit facts for kids
A term limit is a rule that limits how many times a person can be elected to a certain public job. When leaders have term limits, it helps stop one person from staying in power forever. This makes sure that a country stays a democracy and doesn't become a dictatorship. Sometimes, there's a total limit on how many terms someone can serve. Other times, the limit is only on how many terms they can serve one after another.
History of Term Limits
Ancient civilizations like Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome had elected jobs, and they also used term limits for some of them.
In ancient Athens, some jobs were chosen by drawing names. These jobs usually lasted for one year, and people could only serve one term. For example, the Council of Five Hundred changed its members every year.
In the Roman Republic, a law limited the job of censor to just one term. Other yearly jobs, like tribune or consul, could not be re-elected until several years had passed. A dictator could only serve for six months.
Term Limits in the United States
The Constitution of the United States and many state constitutions have term limits for certain jobs. The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution sets a term limit for the President of the United States. It says that no one can be elected president more than twice. It also says that if someone serves more than two years of another president's term, they can only be elected president one more time.
Also, 23 states tried to set term limits for their representatives in Congress. However, these laws are no longer valid. In 1995, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that state governments cannot limit the terms of people who work in the national government.
Images for kids
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Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela could serve unlimited terms of 6 years since the 2009 amendment of the Venezuelan constitution
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Suharto, second President of the Republic of Indonesia, at the start of his sixth term in 1993.
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See also
In Spanish: Límite de mandatos para niños
