Term limits in the context of "President for life"

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⭐ Core Definition: Term limits

A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to eliminate the potential for "president for life", check the concentration of power in the executive, and curb authoritarianism. Term limits may be a lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve, or a limit on the number of consecutive terms.

According to a 2020 analysis, nearly one in four incumbents who face term limits seek to circumvent the term limits through various strategies, including constitutional amendments, working with the judiciary to reinterpret the term limits, let a placeholder govern for the incumbent, and cancelling or delaying elections. Incumbents that seek to circumvent term limits frequently use repression of the opposition, electoral manipulation and foreign support to enable their circumvention. According to a 2025 research project, attempts to circumvent term limits had become increasingly prevalent in African states over time, with few such attempts prior to 2000 and many such attempts post-2000.

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Term limits in the context of Minnesota House of Representatives

The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, which is then subject to approval by the governor of Minnesota.

Established in 1858, the Minnesota House of Representatives has 134 members elected from single-member districts across the state. Representatives serve two-year terms without term limits, with all seats up for election every two years. The House is led by the Speaker, who is elected by members of the House, while political party leadership is governed by the Majority and Minority Leaders.

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Term limits in the context of Term limits in the United States

In the context of the politics of the United States, term limits restrict the number of terms of office an officeholder may serve. At the federal level, the president of the United States can serve a maximum of two four-year terms, with this being limited by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution that came into force on February 27, 1951. Some state government offices are also term-limited, including executive, legislative, and judicial offices. Analogous measures exist at the city and county level across the U.S., though many details involving local governments in that country vary depending on the specific location.

Term limits are also referred to as rotation in office. That specific terminology is often associated with the Founding Father and later president Thomas Jefferson given his use of it in his political arguments.

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Term limits in the context of President of the League of Communists of Serbia

The president was the leader of the League of Communists of Serbia (LCS), the ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Serbia (SRS) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Party rules stipulated that the LCS Central Committee elected the president. Moreover, the Central Committee was empowered to remove the president. The president served ex officio as a member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) and of the SRS Presidency. To be eligible to serve, the president had to be a member of the Presidency of the LCS Central Committee. The 8th LCS Congress instituted a two-year term limits for officeholders.

The office traces its lineage back to the office of "Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Serbia", established after the founding of the LCY in 1919. This body had no distinct rights and was under the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav Central Committee. On 8 May 1945, the LCY convened the founding congress of the Communist Party of Serbia. On 12 May, the Central Committee of the 1st Congress elected Blagoje Nešković as "Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Serbia". The LCY 6th Congress on 2–7 November 1952, renamed the party League of Communists, and the Serbian republican branch followed suit and changed its name to League of Communists of Serbia. On 4 October 1966, the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the LCY 8th Congress abolished the office of General Secretary at the national level and replaced with the office of President. The LCS Central Committee convened a meeting on 4 November 1966 that abolished the office of secretary and established the "President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia". The reforms passed by the LCY Central Committee plenum strengthened the powers of the republican branches and gave more powers to the Serbian party leader. The 9th LCS Congress introduced another set of reforms on 29 May 1982, which abolished the existing office and replaced it with the "President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia". This office was retained until 30 June 1990, when the party changed its name to the Socialist Party of Serbia on 17 July 1990.

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Term limits in the context of Instrument of Government

The Instrument of Government was the first constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and was also the first codified and written constitution in England. It was drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653.

The work incorporates elements from the document Heads of Proposals (1647), which contained the constitutional proposals offered by Army Council to Charles I of England. Under the new constitution, the executive power was held by the Lord Protector. Each Lord Protector was intended to hold the office for life, with no term limits. The legislative power was held exclusively by the then-unicameral Parliament of England, and each session of Parliament had to last for at least five months. An English Council of State would replace the Privy Council, and the actions taken by the Lord Protector would require the consent of a majority of the council to be legal. A number of limits were placed on the authority of the Lord Protector to prevent him from acting as an absolute ruler. The constitution authorised the maintenance of a standing army, which would include 10,000 soldiers as its cavalry, and 20,000 soldiers as its infantry. The document authorised the maintenance of a separate navy, but did not define the intended size of its forces.

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Term limits in the context of Delaware General Assembly

The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legislative Hall in Dover, convening on the second Tuesday of January of odd-numbered years, with a second session of the same Assembly convening likewise in even-numbered years. Normally the sessions are required to adjourn by the last day of June of the same calendar year. However, the Governor can call a special session of the legislature at any time.

Members are elected from single-member districts, all apportioned to roughly equal populations after each decennial Census. Elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November and approximately half of the Senate is elected every two years to a four-year term, and the entire House of Representatives is elected every two years to a two-year term. Vacancies are filled through special elections. There are no term limits for either chamber.

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