This book examines recent trends in American states in order to investigate the age-old question of how the rules that govern a legislature affect the behavior of its members and the policies that it produces.

This study of the effects that term limit laws (restrictions on the number of years for which legislators can serve) have had on politics and policy in American states, combines interviews of capitol insiders with archival records and statistical analysis. The final conclusion--that term limits have had an adverse effect on the professional behavior of legislative members--bears relevance to the current debate over the wisdom of establishing term limits.