In “Exit
Interviews” (October 2000), Reason‘s Michael W. Lynch and
Katherine Mangu-Ward spoke with members of Congress who were
voluntarily on their way out the door, having signed a pledge to
limit themselves to three terms when they came to power as part of
the Republican wave of 1994. As Lynch and Mangu-Ward wrote, “the
term-limits movement has been a huge success. Eighteen states have
enacted term limits on their legislators; tellingly, all but two of
the laws came about via ballot initiatives.” But 23 states that put
term limits on their federal representatives found
themselves out of luck when “a 1995 Supreme Court decision declared
such laws unconstitutional,” leaving congressional term limits the
only aspect of the Republican Party’s Contract with America that
failed to pass the House.
Brian Doherty writes that the movement has continued to grow
with support from libertarian thinkers and financiers.
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