Are the movements transforming Europe about to cross the Atlantic and pass the baton of reform from the old world to the new? If so, then the transfer may be in the form of constitutional amending rather than revolutionary upheaval.
After the two U.S. House elections of 1986 and 1988, with their 98% reelection rates for incumbent members, resentment has intensified against the skillfully crafted techniques whereby incumbents secure homesteads for themselves in Congress. Indeed a Gallup poll conducted in January 1990 found 70% of Americans supportive of restricting congressional tenure. And in Oklahoma, Colorado and California—the three states where a systematic constitutional application of term limits appeared on the ballot—rotation in the legislative branch won handily.
Yet the election results in 1990 (96% reelection) showed the same electoral dominance by incumbent House representatives that has prevailed since World War II. For the last few elections at least, public support for rotation in office has run high, while hardly a blip has appeared in the trend toward incumbents at the ballot box.