U.S and French Term Limits : towards a better electoral competition?

« Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons.”, movie Man of the Year In 1990, Oklahoma and California held the first term limits referenda. More than 25 years later, during the 2017 campaign for the presidential election in France, most of candidates agreed on the idea that members of the French parliament and of some local executive should not exercise more than three identical consecutive terms. Even if both in the USA and in France the question of limiting reelection re-appears at the end of the 20th century, this question is not new. It reopens an historical issue about legislators’ rotation and expertise. Our communication will first focus on this reopening of the debate: who supports term limits? On which idea? On the other hand, we will focus on the effects of term limits: what are the effects of term limits on the composition of the Parliament? Is it a “good recipe” against political professionalization? Do term limits allow more women and minorities enter State Legislatures? Are termed out legislators more likely to return to “civil” life and do term limits prevent from careerism?