Term limits enjoy broad popularity among Americans, yet scholarly literature has omitted two important questions from the study of municipal reform: Why are term limits so popular, and what are the causes of movements for term limits? In this book, Douglas Cantor exposes the causes of term limits at the local level of government to shed light on how and why the movement to adopt term limits came to exist.
Cantor begins his analysis by providing a history of term limits, beginning with classical debates in Greek philosophy. He describes the benefits of studying the causes of term limits and how term limits are a direct manifestation of older values rooted in the American traditions of municipal reform. Part II examines 20 different municipalities across the continental United States that experienced a movement to implement term limits through a political campaign, voter initiative, or council-led charter amendment. Written to a common template and examining each case through the lens of the reform impulse, Cantor argues that the institutional lineage of the Progressives, namely council-manager governments, at-large elections, and nonpartisanship, is largely responsible for movements to implement term limits somewhere in the United States in almost every election.
Term Limits and the Modern Era of Municipal Reform
brings a new dimension to the Progressive era, championing the study of local politics and its importance to understanding American politics.
Biography
Douglas Cantor is a full-time teaching instructor at Rutgers University—New Brunswick. His teaching and research interests include constitutional law, water law and policy, housing law and policy, urban politics, American politics, privatization, and judicial politics.
In this deeply researched analysis, Cantor urges a new conceptualization of the push for municipal term limits. Like the Progressive Reformers of the early 20th century, term limits supporters view institutional change as the proper corrective to government ills (however they might be defined). In so doing Cantor brings a fresh approach (studying the drivers of local term limits, rather than their effects) and novel data (from 20 varied cases) that will influence the way scholars think about both municipal reform and efforts to limit incumbency.
Jessica Trounstine, Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University
Cantor provides a splendid account on the progressive idealism behind turnout limits in local politics and the tumultuous consequences of implementing them in practice. With its comprehensive theory and detailed case studies, this volume is a must have for any library on local politics and governance in the United States.
Eric Oliver, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
