Term Limits vs. The Will of the People

Should a constitution override the will of the voters? This episode tackles the philosophical and practical tensions around presidential term limits, using the United States and Israel as opposing case studies. We examine the Twenty-Second Amendment's origins in FDR's four terms, Israel's lack of any term limit for prime ministers, and what political theorists from Madison to Robert Dahl have said about the "democratic paradox." Featuring insights from Levitsky and Ziblatt on democratic backsliding, we ask: does repeatedly re-electing the same leader protect democracy or gradually hollow it out?