Term limits are trivial to bypass. Same with limitations based on age or the born citizen requirement.
Authoritarians figured this out ages ago. You just get a patsy to run instead. Consider the example of Lurleen Wallace. Her husband, arch-segregationist George Wallace, was term limited per the Alabama constitution. So she ran instead, openly announcing her intention to simply serve as a figurehead. Wallace effectively got another term. She technically was the governor during her term, but George held all the real power. Putin did something similar to get around Russia’s term limits.
Sure, if you do this, you have to worry about your figurehead betraying you and seizing real power for themselves, but this is pretty easy to address. You select someone for the patsy role who has absolutely no political power, charisma, or likeability of their own. Someone who could never possibly win an election on their own. Someone from your own patronage network that will remain completely dependent on you.
Imagine if they run someone like Jared Kushner. He is completely and utterly dependent on Trump for his future and livelihood. He has no real political base of his own. Nobody is out there clamoring for President Kushner. If he ran on his own, he wouldn’t make it past the first week of the primary. But if he ran as a figurehead? Openly saying, “I’m just here to sit in the chair. I’ll do whatever Donald wants. My job is to hold the pen and sign what I’m told to sign. I’m willing to do this because I trust Donald’s judgment.” He could actually have a shot that way. At least Trump’s base would go for it. And Trump would have him completely under his control. Again, Kushner’s political and financing fortunes are entirely dependent on staying in Donald’s good graces. Kushner could in theory get elected and tell Trump, “get the hell out of my office, I’m president now,” but that simply wouldn’t be practically possible.
It is not trivial. Of course a precondition is that term limits are absolute, that means no interruption nonsense. You can still have a sock puppet but legally that sock puppet is in power then. That is super dangerous for a fascist regime because betrayal is a real risk then. Putin was also super nervous about it, even if it worked out for him.
The main thing about those absolute term limits is however to add friction to the perversion of a democratic constitution. If voters are ready to accept it, it is too late anyway, but it makes it just a bit harder to justify the actions, while the constitution is not completely overthrown yet.
Term limits are trivial to bypass. Same with limitations based on age or the born citizen requirement.
Authoritarians figured this out ages ago. You just get a patsy to run instead. Consider the example of Lurleen Wallace. Her husband, arch-segregationist George Wallace, was term limited per the Alabama constitution. So she ran instead, openly announcing her intention to simply serve as a figurehead. Wallace effectively got another term. She technically was the governor during her term, but George held all the real power. Putin did something similar to get around Russia’s term limits.
Sure, if you do this, you have to worry about your figurehead betraying you and seizing real power for themselves, but this is pretty easy to address. You select someone for the patsy role who has absolutely no political power, charisma, or likeability of their own. Someone who could never possibly win an election on their own. Someone from your own patronage network that will remain completely dependent on you.
Imagine if they run someone like Jared Kushner. He is completely and utterly dependent on Trump for his future and livelihood. He has no real political base of his own. Nobody is out there clamoring for President Kushner. If he ran on his own, he wouldn’t make it past the first week of the primary. But if he ran as a figurehead? Openly saying, “I’m just here to sit in the chair. I’ll do whatever Donald wants. My job is to hold the pen and sign what I’m told to sign. I’m willing to do this because I trust Donald’s judgment.” He could actually have a shot that way. At least Trump’s base would go for it. And Trump would have him completely under his control. Again, Kushner’s political and financing fortunes are entirely dependent on staying in Donald’s good graces. Kushner could in theory get elected and tell Trump, “get the hell out of my office, I’m president now,” but that simply wouldn’t be practically possible.
It is not trivial. Of course a precondition is that term limits are absolute, that means no interruption nonsense. You can still have a sock puppet but legally that sock puppet is in power then. That is super dangerous for a fascist regime because betrayal is a real risk then. Putin was also super nervous about it, even if it worked out for him.
The main thing about those absolute term limits is however to add friction to the perversion of a democratic constitution. If voters are ready to accept it, it is too late anyway, but it makes it just a bit harder to justify the actions, while the constitution is not completely overthrown yet.
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