In the UK, MPs are free to stay in their positions for as long as the electorate will allow them. However, in the US, the presidency and various state-level positions are constrained by term limits. This means that the number of terms an elected representative may stay in office is fixed. The question of whether to introduce term limits for Congress remains contentious.
Why were term limits introduced for the president and are they effective? The twenty-second amendment of the US constitution prohibits a president from serving more than two full 4-year terms in office (plus an additional 2 years if taking over from a previous president in the middle of their term). The provision came into effect in 1951, prompted by the Republican Party in response to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt’s tenure of over 12 years in the White House.
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