Congressional Terms

[Harry Hayfield]

A conservative friend of mine in Yukon, Canada suggested that unless congressional terms were lengthened then the appeal for bipartisanship in the House would fall on deaf ears. The reasoning he gave was this:

Election Day: November Year 0
Start of campaign for next election: Six months later
Primary Election: Thirteen months - Seventeen months later
Election Day: November Year 2

He believes that congressional terms should be at least four years in length (with the possibility of Senate terms being extended to eight years) and that elections for both the House and the Senate should be held in the mid term of a President's term, so that the next elections in 2014 would elect a complete House that would not face election again until 2018 (allowing for proper bipartisan discussions on things like the fiscal cliff).

[minionofmidas]

There are serious issues with long terms as well. Three years might arguably be a reasonable time.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, I actually like 3-years terms a lot. This could also go by extending Presidential terms to 6 years (the same should be done in France too, because 5 years is too long for a legislative term).