5.5 Term Limits

What Term Limits Do

Term limits restrict how many terms an official (often the executive) can serve. Democracies use them to prevent excessive concentration of power, encourage peaceful transfer of power, and reduce risks of authoritarian entrenchment. In the six AP course countries, term limits vary: Mexico's president serves one 6-year term with no reelection, while the UK's PM and Iran's Supreme Leader have no formal term limits.

Term Limits and Regime Type

Term limits are more meaningful in democracies where they are respected and enforced by independent institutions. In more authoritarian or hybrid regimes (like Russia or Iran), leaders have manipulated constitutions, used loopholes, or relied on weak judicial oversight to extend or bypass term limits, revealing the limits of formal rules without strong institutional enforcement.

Manipulating or Removing Limits

Some leaders pursue constitutional amendments or referenda to extend their time in power, citing stability or popular mandate. Examples include Vladimir Putin's use of constitutional changes in Russia to reset/extend term counts. This illustrates how term limits' effectiveness depends on checks and balances, judicial independence, and civil society pushback, not just the written rule itself.

Key terms

Term limits

Legal restrictions on how many terms an official may serve, aimed at preventing power concentration.

Mexico's presidential term

A single, non-renewable six-year term (the sexenio).

UK Prime Minister term limits

No formal limit; PM serves as long as their party holds parliamentary confidence.

Putin and term limits

Used constitutional amendments to reset term counts, extending his time in power in Russia.

Why enforcement matters

Term limits are only effective when backed by independent judiciary and strong institutional checks; otherwise leaders can manipulate them.

Try an AP-style question

Why do democracies use term limits?

1. To end elections
2. To prevent entrenched power
3. To extend leaders' rule
4. To weaken courts