Virtually all legislative theory is built on the assumption that politicians are first and foremost reelection-seekers, and because so few countries have ever limited legislative reelection, this assumption has rarely been questioned. As a result, political science has been ill-equipped to offer insights on the impact of legislative term limits. Term Limits and Legislative Representation tests the central arguments made by both supporters and opponents of such reform by examining the experience of Costa Rica, the only long-term democracy to impose term limits on legislators, and by providing extensive comparisons with legislatures in Venezuela and the United States. Professor Carey challenges claims made about the effects of term limits on political careers, pork barrel politics, and the effectiveness of political parties in passing their programs.

"...a wonderful example of the value of comparative political analysis....Through well-organized, clearly written comparative analysis of the Costa Rican and Venezuelan political systems he creates an empirical basis for predicting what effect term limits could have on politics in the United States....Carey uses an innovative comparative method to advance greatly the theoretical and practical debate about term limits. But this book goes beyond that topic and will be of interest to scholars studying party cohesiveness and institutional design." American Political Science Review

"Carey observes and applies multivariate statistical analysis to a large number of politicians, and his core theoretical argument comes from the U.S. legislative literature." Barry Ames, Latin American Research Review