Term limit by country

Head of state/government[1]
Legislature
One   Two   Three   Unlimited   No set (Monarchy)   No set (Transitional/NA)

Aterm limit is a legal restriction on the number ofterms aperson may serve in a particularelected office. When term limits are found inpresidential andsemi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". This is intended to protect arepublic^[ambiguous]from becoming ade factodictatorship.^{[original research?][globalize]} Term limits may be a lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve, or a limit on the number of consecutive terms.

Term limits date back toAncient Greece and theRoman Republic, as well as theRepublic of Venice.^[1] In ancientAthenian democracy, many officeholders were limited to a single term.Council members were allowed a maximum of two terms. The position ofStrategos could be held for an indefinite number of terms.^[2] In the Roman Republic, a law was passed imposing a limit of a single term on the office ofcensor. The annualmagistrates, including thetribune of the plebs, theaedile, thequaestor, thepraetor, and theconsul, were forbidden reelection until a number of years had passed.^[3] The office ofdictator was nearly unrestricted with the exception that it was limited to a single six-month term. Successive Roman leaders weakened this restriction untilJulius Caesar became a perpetual dictator and ended the republic.^[4]

Term limits returned in medieval Europe through theNovgorod Republic, thePskov Republic, theRepublic of Genoa, and theRepublic of Florence.^[5]

The first modern constitutional term limit was established in theFrench First Republic by theConstitution of 1795, which established five-year terms to theFrench Directory and banned consecutive terms.Napoleon ended the practice of term limits in 1799 in much the same way as Julius Caesar had.^[6] TheFrench Constitution of 1848 reestablished term limits, but this was abolished by Napoleon's nephew,Napoleon III.^[7]

Many post-Soviet republics established presidential systems with five-year term limits after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.^[8] ThePresident of Russia is allowed a maximum of two consecutive terms, but the2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia reset incumbent presidentVladimir Putin's term count, allowing him to stand for two additional terms.^[9] ThePresident of Belarus was limited to two terms, but the limit was abolished in 2004.^[10]

A predecessor of modern term limits in the Americas dates back to the 1682 Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties and the colonialframe of government of the same year, authored byWilliam Penn and providing for triennial rotation of theProvincial Council, the upper house of thecolonial legislature.^[11]Presidents of the United States typically honored an informal tradition of only serving two terms in office, but this limit was not enshrined into law until the22nd Amendment to theConstitution was ratified in 1951 afterFranklin D. Roosevelt had been elected to an unprecedented third and fourth terms.^[12]

As the countries ofLatin America modeled presidential republics after the government of the United States in the 19th century, they established term limits for their presidents based on the two-term precedent of the United States. In response to presidents overstaying their term, some of these term limits were eventually replaced by a limit of one term without reelection.^[13]

In Mexico,Porfirio Díaz evaded term limits, running for eight terms before being forced into exile in 1911. A new constitution in 1917 established a one term limit. AfterÁlvaro Obregón violated this law and ran for a second term, he was assassinated.^[14] Currently, members of theCongress of Mexico cannot be reelected consecutively under article 50 and 59 of theConstitution of Mexico, and thePresident of Mexico is limited to a single six-year term, called thesexenio.^{[citation needed]}

ThePresident of Argentina was limited to one consecutive six-year term, but theConstitution of Argentina was amended in 1994, loosening the term limit to a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, theConstitution of Brazil was amended, loosening the term limit for thePresident of Brazil from one five-year term to two four-year terms.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, the term limit for thePresident of Colombia was increased from one term to two terms before reverting to one term in 2015.^[15]

The2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum abolished term limits in Venezuela.^[16]

Following the1911 Revolution,Prime Minister of the Imperial CabinetYuan Shikai became the secondPresident of the Republic of China. He was initially subject to a maximum of two five-year terms, but the term was then lengthened to ten years and the term limit was removed.^{[citation needed]}

In 1948, theTemporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion abolished the term limit for the President of the Republic of China and establishedChiang Kai-shek as the country's military leader. The term limit was restored after the provisions were repealed in 1991.^{[citation needed]}

ThePresident of South Korea was initially permitted to serve a maximum of two four-year terms when the office was created in 1948, but the term limit was removed in 1954 so thatSyngman Rhee could run for a third term. After Rhee was elected to a fourth term, theFirst Republic of Korea was overthrown. The two term limit was restored, but it was expanded to three terms in 1969 and abolished again in 1972. A one seven-year term limit was established in 1981, which was reduced to five years in 1988.^{[citation needed]}

Under the originalConstitution of Indonesia, there were no presidential or vice-presidential term limits, but since the first amendment in 1999 holders of both offices are limited to two terms each.

The Philippines established term limits following independence from the United States, but they were abolished byFerdinand Marcos in the 1970s.^[17] Term limits were restored in the 1987constitution, after Marcos was deposed in thePeople Power Revolution. The President is limited to one six-year term.^[18][19]

Between 1982 and 2018, theConstitution of China stipulated that thepresident,vice president,premier andvice premiers could not serve more than two consecutive terms, though there was no term limit for theGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, who usually represented theparamount leader of China. In March 2018, theNational People's Congress passed a set of constitutional amendments, including abolishing the term limits for the president and vice president, as well as enhancing the central role of theChinese Communist Party (CCP), allowingCCP leaderXi Jinping to continue as paramount leader indefinitely.^[20][21]

ThePresident of Tajikistan was initially limited to one five-year term under the 1994Constitution of Tajikistan. This was increased to one seven-year term in 1999 and to two seven-year terms in 2003. The term limit was reset for PresidentEmomali Rahmon in 2006, and the term limit was abolished in 2016.^[22][23]

ThePrime Minister of Pakistan was limited to one five-year term until the limit was abolished in 2011.^{[citation needed]}

TheYang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is subjected to a term limit. Once elected, he is only allowed to serve for a single five-year term and cannot renew for a second term consecutively. This rule makesMalaysia among twoconstitutional monarchies in the world that is subjected to a term limit, the other beingAndorra (with thePresident of France serving as one of itsco-princes).

Liberia briefly limited its presidents to an eight-year term between 1944 and 1951.^[24] As the countries of sub-Saharan Africa weredecolonised in the mid-20th century, most of the new governments established presidential systems, but term limits were rarely established. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, and Togo were the only countries to establish them, but they were abolished soon afterward.^[24] After thecollapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989-90 and ensuing wave of democratization in Eastern Europe, many African engaged in similar political democratizations and established term limits.^[25]

ThePresident of Uganda was limited to two five-year terms in 1995. PresidentYoweri Museveni had previously served two terms, but these were not counted toward the new two term limit. The term limit was abolished in 2005, allowing Museveni to continue as president.^{[citation needed]}

In Kenya, the2010 constitution limits the president to a maximum of two five-year terms just like county governors. Before the promulgation of the 2010 constitution, term limits did not exist. The first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta ruled for 15 years and died in office. His vice president, Daniel Moi took over in 1978 and ruled for 24 years beforeMwai Kibaki took over. Kibaki ruled for ten years, in a tenure that was characterized by major political reforms leading to the 2010 constitution. Immediate former PresidentUhuru Kenyatta was the first president under the new law, a position he served for two terms of 5 years each and was succeeded by his deputyWilliam Ruto in September 2022. A member of President Ruto'sUnited Democratic Alliance party revealed plans to scrap the term limits on 7 November 2022 but the leadership dismissed him saying that was his personal opinion which he was entitled to.

The1999 constitution of Nigeria limits the President at the Federal level, and Governors at the state level to serving two four-year terms. This has been strictly followed since 1999.

The2010 constitution of Niger limited the President to two five-year terms.Mahamadou Issoufou was the only president to step down after being term limited.^[26]

In Sub-Saharan Africa, only South Africa (since 1994) Ghana (since 1993), Kenya (since 1964), and Nigeria (since 1999) have experienced apeaceful transition of power from one president to another after the expiry of term limits. Some countries have either scrapped the requirement or do not have it in their laws.

The2019 Egyptian constitutional referendum included amendments to expand the presidential term from four to six years and allow PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi to stand for a third term over the constitutional limit of two terms.^[27]

Term limits were one of the major demands of protesters during theArab Spring.^[28]

Term limits are an element ofconstitutionalism that serves to limit the negative effects of democracy.^[29]

Term limits may take the form of consecutive term limits or lifetime term limits. With consecutive term limits, an officeholder can only serve a certain number of terms before they have to stop running for that office. After a set period of time, the clock resets on the limit, and the officeholder may run for election to their original office and serve up to the limit again. With lifetime limits, once an officeholder has served up to the limit, they may never again run for election to that office. Lifetime limits are much more restrictive than consecutive limits.^[30]

Countries that operate aparliamentary system of government are less likely to employ term limits on their leaders. This is because such leaders rarely have a set "term" at all: rather, they serve as long as they have theconfidence of theparliament, a period which could potentially last for life. Many parliaments can bedissolved forsnap elections which means some parliaments can last for mere months while others can continue until their expiration dates. Nevertheless, such countries may impose term limits on the holders of other offices—in republics, for example, a ceremonial presidency may have a term limit, especially if the office holdsreserve powers.^{[citation needed]}

Due in part to a lack of legal term limits in African countries,Mo Ibrahim created theIbrahim Prize with an associated cash prize to incentivize African leaders to promote human rights and democratic transfer of power.^[31]

Many presidents have tried to overstay their respective term limits by various methods.^[32][33] Between 1960 and 2010, more than one quarter of term-limited presidents successfully extended or violated their term limits to stay in power, and the enforcement of term limits is recognized as one of the great challenges in democratic development. Term limits typically receive greater domestic and international recognition than other mechanisms of democracy, and attempts to violate term limits are typically met with strong resistance by a country's population and on the world stage.^[34] The violation of term limits is strongly correlated withdemocratic backsliding and the erosion of human rights.^[35]

Whether a president seeks to subvert term limits may be affected by how much wealth can be gained from the office, opportunities for acquiring wealth after leaving office, what constraints are in place to enforce term limits, how much control leader has over other branches of government or a political party, precedent in the region, and the likelihood of facing criminal prosecution upon leaving office.^[36] Presidents are more likely to be successful in violating term limits if they control the other branches of government, whether through their political parties or through insufficientchecks and balances.^[37] Though violation of term limits is more common in less democratic countries, political opposition, foreign governments, and the citizenry can still enforce term limits in nondemocratic countries.^[38]

A president may attempt to circumvent term limits indirectly by extending their rule without an additional term. This may be done by extending the length of the term or postponing elections. In some cases, a president may circumvent term limits by officially stepping down from office but maintainingde facto control of the government.^[39]

• Gerontocracy
• List of political term limits
• Reelection
• Term of office

1.^ In a monarchical country where the head of government isn't also the head of state (Prime Minister) the color scheme does not apply to the head of government.

• Baturo, Alexander (2014).Democracy, Dictatorship, and Term Limits. United States:University of Michigan Press.

• Real Term Limits: Now More Than Ever, an article byDoug Bandow in favor of term limits
• Legislative Term Limits: An Overview at theLibrary of Congress Web Archives (archived 2009-05-01), term limits information from theNational Conference of State Legislatures