Testing the limit : term limits and their unintended consequences

Abstract

Term limits have been in place for over 20 years; we know that term limits matter, but not to what extent.Term limits vary widely across the states that have them, impacting the structure of legislative institutions and relations with other branches of government. This study is the first comparative study assessing differences across term-limited states using both individual and aggregate data. I present original datasets, as well as 101 interviews with state legislators to assess the long-term effects of term limits. This study reveals that while term limits have brought changes the institution has largely adapted to these changes.