Finally, proponents of term limits point out that the aforementioned second-term problems were due to personality, leadership, and policy problems, not clout in Congress alone. In terms of change, the presence of term limits can 'cut' both ways: "On the one hand it is said that not having term limits makes needed change more difficult because of the power that long-time office holders amass. On the other hand, term limits can also be seen as an obstacle to long-term needed political change because it forces a change of leadership at a time when the leader's project might not be ready for such change" (Wilpert 2009).
However, the system of checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution suggests that the Founding Fathers envisioned a limited form of government, without a powerful ruling political class, particularly at the executive level. Above all, Washington and his fellow Founding Fathers feared the establishment of a king, or central figure with great authority and power. Without term limits, the extraordinary wealth and public support required to run for office makes participation in the system more difficult than before. We have come a long way from the ideal of the gentleman farmer, giving back to his country with a few years of service in the legislature, and then retuning home. The dangers of even good men and women serving too long can be seen in Congress, where powerful members use their seniority to strong-arm committees into giving them pet projects to deliver to their state, or men and women who simply are too old to truly fulfill the needs of the office to the capacity necessary to govern. Absolute power, it is said, corrupts absolutely, and when an incumbent becomes entrenched, he or she enjoys something close to absolute power.
The age of the Internet has enabled new candidates to improve their name recognition, to raise funds more quickly, and to have greater flexibility in disseminating their message directly to the people. This was evidenced in Barak Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. But we must...
A primary is another system of electing delegates with a mandate to vote for a given candidate. Unlike caucuses, primaries are votes conducted by the government on behalf of the political party. This vote can be open, closed, semi-closed or semi-open. Open primaries allow citizens to vote in both parties' primaries; semi-closed only the primary for the party you belong to (independents may vote in these as well) and in
Also, viewers may perceive the negative advertising as an infringement upon their right to decide for themselves. Such a perception may result in reactance, a boomerang effect in which the individual reacts in a manner opposite to the persuader's intention. What these studies show, then, is that a candidate is never going to know how for sure how a negative ad may impact the voters. In the long run,
Presidential Power While the scope of modern presidential power far exceeds the very limited but potent powers that the President is given in Article II of the Constitution, it does not appear that those powers have increased dramatically over the last 20 years, especially when one compares the President's power with congressional power. It is important to keep in mind that most presidents have "used their implied and informal presidential
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American politics have always been a hotbed of debate. Just how far politicians are willing to go in the quest to win has revolved around the type of campaign that the participants have taken part in. If the campaign is "clean" the opponents stick to the issues and debate their platforms with little attempt to discredit the others in the race. If the race is "dirty" it means that the
Characteristically, each voter is given the alternative of casting votes separately in each tier, which in this study we refer to as nominal vote and the list vote. On the other hand, there are instances wherein the voter gives only a nominal vote. In such instances allotment of assembly-seats in the list-tier is founded on a combined-total of nominal-votes on party-basis (Cain, 1987). The Nominal Tier Typically the nominal tier comprises
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