Abstract
Political science is currently ill-equipped to offer insights on legislative term limits because current theories of legislative behavior are finely rooted in the assumption that legislators’ primary motivation is reelection. Theory-building, moreover, is hampered by the scarcity of empirical cases of legislators legally prohibited from reelection. Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, and the Philippines are the only nations to limit legislative terms constitutionally.1 Of these, only Costa Rica has imposed term limits over an extended period in which elections were regular and competitive. This essay focuses on the Costa Rican experience to provide empirical evidence on the impact of term limits.
Published Version
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