State Politics & Policy Quarterly | Vol. 6 No. 4 | The Limited Impact of Term Limits: Contingent Effects on the Complexity and Breadth of Laws

Abstract

Volume 6 • Number 4

Winter 2006

Research Articles

THAD KOUSSER, University of California, San Diego
The Limited Impact of Term Limits: Contingent Effects on the Complexity and Breadth of Laws

Do term limits constrain a legislature's ability to produce complex and broad policy? I investigate this question by examining patterns of policymaking in six states before and after term limits went into effect in four of them. I find that term limits reduced policy complexity in three hybrid and citizen legislatures, while laws became increasingly intricate in the highly professional California legislature. I conclude that both the institutional context and experience of the term-limited legislators condition the effects of this reform on policymaking. In particular, a legislator's experienceÑin either state or local governmentÑallows him or her to write broad and complex bills, and in legislatures that provide little staff support to compensate for the inexperience of their new members, term limits can reduce overall legislative policy knowledge, thus reducing the complexity of legislation.

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