lmg@houxb.UUCP (L.M.Geary) (08/12/83)
The idea of restricting officials to a single term, e.g., one 6 year term for president, sounds good when you have an incompetent official but not when you have one you like. I think a more reasonable solution might be to forbid more than one *consecutive* term. That is, the official may run for re-election to the same office, but only after staying out of office for one term. Any takers? Larry Geary ..!houxb!lmg
zrm@mit-eddie.UUCP (Zigurd R. Mednieks) (08/13/83)
In France they have a very strong presidency with a seven year term. What this does for us is make certain that the Franc will be weak until the Socialists are voted out of office. What it does for the French, I don't know. Economically, they are suffering and it won't let up soon - and the Socialists have not even managed to combat Franglaise. Cheers, Zig
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (08/15/83)
I can't believe all this silliness about restricting officials
to single terms. What is democracy all about, for goodness' sake?
Are we only to allow democracy to the point where people can vote
based on advertising and campaigning, or will we let it to continue
to be based at least in part on track record?
I think people out there have the attitude that we shouldn't
allow re-election because politicians while in power will do things
that the populace want. Who are we to say that what people want
isn't what they should get? Surely that's the most *basic* element
of democracy. Accountability to the people, combined with the desire
for re-election, is what keeps the political system honest.
Dave Sherman, Toronto
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{linus,cornell,watmath,ihnp4,floyd,allegra,utzoo,uw-beaver}!utcsrgv!davesample@ubc-visi (08/21/83)
Zig says:
In France they have a very strong presidency with a seven year term.
What this does for us is make certain that the France will be weak until
the Socialists are voted out of office. What it does for the French, I
don't know. Economically, they are suffering and it won't let up soon -
and the Socialists have not even managed to combat Franglaise.
The French were in bad shape economically long before Mitterand was
elected. The economic action take so far has not been anything like
standard socialist behavior, anyway, so I don't think this is a good
subject to use for taking pot shots at socialism.