New data of the electroexcitation cross section on protons and deuterons in the resonance region are compared with the results in the deep inelastic region for four-momentum transfers q 2 ⩽ 1.5 (GeV/ c) 2. The Bloom-Gilman sum rule is shown to hold for q 2 ⩾ 1.2 (GeV/ c) while the Rittenberg-Rubinstein sum rule is saturated for q 2 ⩾ 0.4 (GeV/ c) 2. It is shown that the sum rules do not saturate in a local way.