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Term Limits In Elections

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Enactment of term limits
Term limits will help in increasing electoral competition by increasing the number of open seat elections. However, there is an assumption since there is little evidence that joins this, and on another case when an incumbent goes for reelection, competition is suppressed by term limits. Term limits make the elections to be less competitive but on the other hand, they increase the number of open seats contest (Sarbaugh, 2002). Political parties play a major role in political competition and their strength is measured by their ability to exert control over their candidates who are on the ballot papers.
In order to be able to see how term limits affect elections of places, it is important to examine some electoral environment features in Michigan and California. These features include present open seats number, the turn out number of citizens, and whether the elections were competitive or if the voters had to choose among many candidates who were qualified. To be able to determine whether the open seats have an effect on electoral competition it is important to view the available races and where a reelection was run by an incumbent. Looking at term limits law in Michigan before they came into effect in 1998 most …show more content…

There was an increase in the number of these seats from 25 to 32 between 1992 and 2002. This increase was a result of term limits, but when it came to Michigan, there is need to be cautious since the number of open seats increased at the same level. However, they occurred before the voters had decided to adopt term limits. This means that the rise of open seats in California may not be necessary because of term limits but there were other factors. Considering the fact that Michigan did not adopt term limits until election conducted in 1992 redistricting maybe a major reason why there was an increase in open seats and incumbents lost to

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