Editing Term limit (section)

{{Short description|Legal restriction limiting the number of terms an officeholder may serve}}{{Distinguish|text=[[Term of office|Term length]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
A '''term limit''' is a legal restriction on the number of [[Term of office|terms]] a [[Incumbent|person]] may serve in a particular [[elected office]]. When term limits are found in [[Presidential system|presidential]] and [[Semi-presidential republic|semi-presidential system]]s they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "[[president for life]]". 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.

According to a 2020 analysis, nearly one in four incumbents who face term limits seek to circumvent the term limits through various strategies, including constitutional amendments, working with the judiciary to reinterpret the term limits, let a placeholder govern for the incumbent, and cancelling or delaying elections.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Versteeg |first=Mila |date=2020 |title=THE LAW AND POLITICS OF PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMIT EVASION |url=https://columbialawreview.org/content/the-law-and-politics-of-presidential-term-limit-evasion/ |website=Columbia Law Review |language=en}}</ref>