Skip to main content

Putin Brings Term Limits Into Question



Love him, hate him, or simply don't care about him, Vladimir Putin will be allowed to serve as President of Russia for the foreseeable future. But one thing that many sensationalist headlines are ignoring, is that he actually has to be elected to continue in his role as the Russian head of state. Whether you think Russia has fair elections or not, it brings a broader question into the fore; should political term limits even exist?

Let’s move west of the Kremlin, and think about this political situation with some leaders who are more favourable to westerners than the beast from the east. Barack Obama was not allowed to run for a third term in office in 2016, ultimately leading to the election of Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton was simply not as likeable as Obama, something that wasn’t helped by the email scandal or her attack on republican supporters that had an affect on the middle ground. Obama, a much more liked public figure, would have surely retained the White House for a third term were he allowed to run.

In Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins, is currently serving his second and final term, after proving to be the most popular candidate by some margin during the 2018 election. Yes, he’s old, but we can’t write off people purely on their age, remember Dev was 90 when he finished his second term in Áras an Uachtaráin. In all likelihood, Michael D. would win a third term in office if he were willing and allowed to run.

Not wanting to turn this article into a list of popular presidents and former presidents from around the world, we’ll move on to the question again, should term limits exist?

From a democratic perspective, nobody should be excluded for running for election, for any reason, at the end of the day democracy is about the will of the people. If a president is running for their fifth term in office, and they receive the support of 50+% of the electorate, then that is the will of the people. By forbidding someone to run for office, it will never be known for sure if the will of the people has been betrayed or followed.

On the other hand, there are some theoretical downsides to not having a term limit. For one, the goalposts could be moved during the president’s term, giving them an advantage. An example of this is in the US where in some states, convicted felons are routinely denied and then granted their supposed ‘right’ to vote. According to the documentary 13th, this is because many felons are black, and 90+% of black people vote for Democrats. So when a Democrat is in power, they can vote; when a Republican is in power they can’t. Again, I want to emphasise that this is not across the entire US.

There is also something known as the ‘Incumbent Advantage’, which means that the person who already holds the office, has an advantage over a newcomer, as they are more well known by their constituency. This is often exaggerated do dissuade challengers, but it does exist to some degree. However it is arguable that party support levels and the state of the economy play a much larger role in elections, and after all aren’t all elections based on the state of economic and social issues, rather than incumbency?

Terms limits seem to be here for the long-haul, but should they be?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's The Beef With Beef ?

The Irish Beef Industry has been going through turbulent times recently, most notably because of the proposed Mercosur deal and the prices farmers receive for their cattle. We haven't even reached Brexit yet, and are still weeks out from the latest withdrawal deadline, and beef farmers are at their wits end. But how has it got to this and can farmers cope if there is a no-deal Brexit? Farmers' incomes are under threat, not just because of the reasons outlined above, but also because of the threat to grants which keep small and medium farms in business. The recent EU elections have seen the status quo remain in the European Parliament, with parties of the right keeping their large dominance of the union. There has been some debate surrounding the EU's agricultural plan over the course of the previous five year parliament, particularly regarding the EU's farm subsidy. Now that the elections are over, the EU government could proceed with plans which could see a standard ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elitism Prevails

  Elitism Prevails   In 2013 the people of Ireland voted to retain our second house of democracy, Seanad Éireann; but it was a narrow victory and was predicated by a general understanding that the Irish electorate wanted to see this pathetic resemblance of democracy to be seriously reformed. Nine years later, that elitism that was promised to be rid from our flawed democracy is still thriving. Next month, March 2022, we will see a by-election for a Seanad seat that was vacated by the Labour Party’s Ivana Bacik when she was elected to the only truly democratic house in the state, Dáil Éireann. But despite an electorate in the millions, only some 60,000 people will be granted the privilege of voting; graduates from Trinity College Dublin, an institute with a deep history of elitism and sectarianism. Of the sixty seats in the Seanad, graduates of TCD have the privilege of voting for three of those Seanadóirí, and the combined institutes that form the National Universities...
Post a Comment
Read more

A 2023 Election Not To Be Ruled Out

  With the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green Party coalition now entering its third year of a maximum five-year term, many are of the opinion that the trio will ride out the rather undesirable polling figures and wait until the last possible moment to call another general election. Another common opinion is that an election will be called in the second half of 2024, how late in that half dependent on the results of the European and Local elections in May of that year. Both valid points, particularly the latter; a bumper budget in October, semi-decent canvassing weather, and pre-empting the inevitable winter healthcare crisis, all make for a workable scenario for the government parties. However, strategically speaking, taking those points and applying them to October 2023 may make more sense for Martin, Varadkar, and Ryan, should they be willing to gamble their final year of the term for the prospects of another five-year stint running Leinster House. Despite current polling having ...
Post a Comment
Read more