Establishing term limits for political leaders is a common practice especially in the democratic world. Since orient times it was clear to humanity that, man undergoes a growth and development process of which the level of effectiveness is optional in middle life and diminishes steadily with old age. This was largely the basis on which the ancient’s rotational system of leadership was based on.
The ancient political leadership was rarely democratic as most societies were organized around monarchy and hierarchical system was very popular. Leadership in most societies was largely handed down in a patriarchial manner and the question of presidential or king’s term limit never arose. Usually leaders would quit power due to; coup, death, poor health or illness but there was rarely laid down procedures on term limits. However, with modernization of society, the need arose for limited presidential term limits.
This was occasioned by many reasons but most crucial of all was the need to maintain law and order and protect states from tyranny and dictatorship (Pious, Richard, 45). As a result, most modern countries have term limits, which are legal, restrictions guiding the duration a president can serve as a president or a Prime Minister (Kissinger, Henry, 165). It is worth noting that, presidential systems are not practiced or honoured in every presidential or semi-presidential system. In some countries, presidents out rightly fail to adhere to the constitutional requirements and fail to honour the presidential term limits. Usually, such a situation generates in to chaos, anarchy and outright abuse of office by the leaders, who fail to honor the term limits. The United States practices the presidential system of government.
The president of America is the Chief Executive of the country the president is also the Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of the United States of America (Nelson, Michael, 12-42). The president is responsible for making key executive appointments as well as formulating the country’s foreign policy. The president is the head of government as well as the head of state. The American presidency is indisputably the most powerful presidency in the world with not only great influence on domestic matters but with great international influence in virtually every part of the world. This clearly points to an office, which is not a match to any other office in the world considering the fact that, America is a super power with great military capability and a high population of over 100 million people.
This therefore implies that, the presidents Americans elect must have good checks and balances which guarantees that the seat of president will be used to guide and protect the sovereignity of the U. S, its people as well as its trade, political, social and cultural interests. The president of America is elected democratically through an election process, which recurs every four years. This means that Americans go to elections every four years to elect a president of their choice from a pool of hopefuls with different ideologies, visions, experiences and capabilities. The American election process is considerably a free and fair one and it is assumed that whoever who wins the elections is usually the most suitable person to lead the great people of America.
A lot of debate has been ongoing concerning how long the people’s choice should lead, whether the presidential term limits of two consecutive terms should be limited, or whether the constitutional two consecutive terms should be lengthened to allow the person Americans choose to lead for a longer period. The American people cannot repeat the mistakes other countries have made. The Americans must learn from comparative case studies of other countries, which either have a longer presidential term, compared to that of the US or those countries with considerably shorter presidential term limits compared to the America’s two term limit for presidents. There is a wealth of evidence to show that, the current presidential limit of a maximum of two consecutive terms is the best.
The current presidential term limits have served the nation well and is arguably responsible for the unmatched political stability America enjoys today. Maintaining the presidential term limit is advantageous due to the fact that as a Chief Executive of the country the president is supposed to guide the policy formulation of the country. It sometimes happens that a country suffers from some challenges for example, economical depression, social strife or political turmoil. Such situations take a long-term approach to rectify (Graff, Henry, 89). To rectify situations such as those stated above requires long term planning and implementation of programs geared towards the desired goals. The four-year one term is hardly enough to implement the above-mentioned changes leave alone shortening the current 4-year term limit.
To be effective, a president needs to plan with certainty and be given ample time to execute plans. Therefore the current four-year term limit which allows for a consecutive run is the best in terms of giving the president the ample time required for restructuring the economy as well as other sectors in the economy. Drawing from the situation in Canada where the country’s Prime Minister who is also the head of government, it is evident that reducing the current presidential term limit can bring with it a lot of uncertainty and political instability. In Canada, the Prime Minister enjoys none fixed term in office which means that the Prime Minister can serve for as little as 3-year term or as long as 4-year term. Canada’s Prime Minister is tasked with responsibilities of making executive appointments just like the president of America; this has led to confusion and inefficiency in cases where a Prime Minister fails to secure a longer term.
This has led to a current debate on the need to renegotiate the Prime Minister’s term limit as well as powers. The current term limits for presidents allow the president to settle down with certainty and execute the executive’s duties. It also enables the president to appoint and form a team with which they have ample time to formulate policies and stay in power for long enough to deliver election pledges. It is worth noting that, the citizens of America always dream of a Unites State full of opportunities, stability as well as peace.
For anyone to become a president such wishes and aspirations of the Americans must be fully addressed. This therefore forces the presidential hopefuls together with the sponsoring parties to make election campaigns and promises (Bailey, Thomas, 104). It is on the basis of the promises and pledges the politicians make that they are judged with during the election. For instance, one of the most pressing issues in America today is the fight against terrorism.
That implies that, the next presidential hopeful must clearly demonstrate to the voters how terrorism will be fought upon election. This therefore means the presidential hopefuls have to commit into a time frame of implementing their campaign promises. Shortening the presidential term limit from the current four-year term to maybe two or three years can greatly impede the fight against terrorism which is clearly a long term goal. The current term limit of atleast one term of 4 years allows a president ample time to deal with the threat of terror. That is why President Bush has been able to respond swiftly to global terror on a large scale, for instance by initiating a regime change in Iraq as well as continued and sustained fight against the threat of Taliban in Afghanistan.
On the other hand lengthening the presidential term for US presidents can spell doom for gains already made in the country’s political system (Dallek, Robert, 74). Lengthening the presidential term will take away the urgency for delivery of services to the citizens. It has happened elsewhere. Taking an example of countries whereby presidents serve for unlimited terms such as Cuba and some developing countries like Zimbabwe, it is evident that presidents become ineffective with a prolonged stay in office. Some presidential systems which allow for unlimited or a very long term for presidents have seen some otherwise good presidents turn into dictators as well as running down of economies of their countries.
This is a lesson for presidents. According to (Graff, Henry, 31), term limits prevents mischievous presidents from taking advantage of their incumbency to rule for life. In addition, a limited term in office such as the current one is in line with the spirit of democracy, which requires everyone to participate in leadership as long as they are capable (Kane, Joseph, 211). If the current presidential term is altered to accommodate for longer presidential terms, it means that less people can get the opportunity to participate in the democratic process of leading America (Miroff, Bruce 89). Although some have argued that, setting limits deprives people of their democratic rights to lead, this has more demerits than merits and therefore the current term limits is the best for America (Degregorio, William, 127). The contention that, the current term limit paves room for an election of an inexperienced president is true but is not enough reason to allow presidents to remain at the helm for longer than two consecutive years (Levy, Leonard, 76).
The constitution guides the actions and decisions of a president’s and not experience or lack of it. ConclusionThe presidential term limits for United States of America should remain as it is. The current presidential term limits have successfully served the American people for decades and nothing major should warrant a change. Shortening the presidential term limits is likely to deny the presidents an opportunity to deliver on their campaign pledges and to implement governments programs and policies. On the other hand, lengthening the presidential term limits may lead to abuse of office as well as collapsing of state social and economic systems.
Ineffective presidency is likely to harm America’s, social, cultural, economic and political climate.
