[python-committers] Transfer of power

Larry Hastings larry at hastings.org
Fri Jul 13 23:22:00 EDT 2018



On 07/13/2018 06:54 PM, Tim Peters wrote:
> So:  term limits!  Say, 12 years.  If there are 3 Elders, replace one 
> every 12/3 = 4 years.  At the start we can use the `secrets` module to 
> pick which Elders get the first 4, 8, and 12-year terms ;-)
>
> Fresh blood is a good thing in all areas.

Can I get you to clarify what you mean by "term limits"?  Do you solely 
mean "Elders would not be appointed for life, but rather would need to 
be re-elected every N years"?  Or do you additionally mean "No Elder can 
serve more than N terms in their lifetime?"  As an admittedly-feeble 
attempt at disambiguation, I'd call the former "limited terms" and the 
latter "term limits".  (I would welcome better terms ;-)

I'm most familiar with the term "term limits" from American politics, 
where it definitely means the latter: a person can only serve N times, 
and are simply ineligible to serve in that same role an N+1th time.  As 
an example, after FDR was elected President four times (!), the American 
Congress passed the 22nd Amendment which limits any particular person to 
no more than two terms as President.

Using my terminology above, at the moment I'm open-minded about whether 
or not the Council members should have "limited terms".  But I'm less 
upbeat about "term limits".  Personally I've always found this concept 
of "term limits" a bit silly--the electorate could simply decline to 
re-elect the incumbent.  The fact that Americans re-elect the incumbent 
so frequently, and /also/ vote for term limits, seems to distill down to 
the attitude "Throw the bums out!... except for /my/ guy, he's good."


//arry/
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