Elected Every Two Years

Provision 12 of the United States Constitution is located in Article I.2.1: "Elections for the members of the House of Representatives shall take place every two years." This means that we haves the Right to confirm or replace our representatives every two years. The Constitution does not limit the number of terms a representative can serve. The reason that this provision was put in the Constitution was to insure that the representatives had to return home and face the voters at regular times. "The fact that the representatives were to be chosen `by the people' of the several states created a `national' Congress of the people instead of a Congress representing the federated states (as was the case under the Articles of Confederation). The people thereby acquired a dual citizenship, being citizens of a `national' government and also citizens of their respective states (to which they likewise elected representatives)" (W. Cleon Skousen, The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, 269). The Founders wanted the term of office to be long enough that the representative could know what he was doing and yet limited enough that he would remain faithful to the people who elected him. They thought that two years was the right length of time. Parents can talk about how students are elected each year to serve as class officers. This is to insure that the students have the leaders they desire.