America is the only developed democracy to require such short legislative terms. We explain why
2021, less than a year after his inauguration, President Joe Biden told a meeting of Democratic National Committee officials: “We’re going to win in 2022.” Voters weary from the bruising presidential election may have inwardly groaned at the prospect of. But for Americans, biennial elections are the norm. Article I of the constitution mandates that members of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate be “chosen every second Year.
But biennial elections make it harder to govern. Congress starts afresh after each election: bills die and committee work is suspended . Time becomes a precious resource. This can be galvanising—Democrats’ fear that they would soon lose control of Congress led to a flurry of legislative action this summer. But it can also be demotivating.
The elections are also distracting. Some House members say that fundraising can take up 20-30 hours a week, and primary elections extend the time spent campaigning. At least twice in the past decade, individual congressmen have suggested constitutional amendments to change the length of terms. In 1966, as president, Lyndon Johnson proposed a move to four-year terms.
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