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Professor David Orentlicher was interviewed by “Washington Post” writer Chris Cillizza for an article titled “Second term presidents almost always fail. Should we get rid of term limits on them?’ The article appeared in the newspaper’s online edition August 12.

The article was in response to an op-ed written by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers advocating that term limits need to be abolished because the second term of a presidency isdifficult for the president, government, and nation. Summers proposed one six-year term, or the abolition of the 22^nd Amendment, which limited presidential terms to two.

Cillizza asked presidential scholars for their opinions, and Orentlicher was the first mentioned in the article. Neither of Summers’ proposals would get rid of partisan conflict that has become the root of the problem in the federal government, Orentlicher said. Instead, he supports reform that would create incentive for cooperation.

“I like the approach more common in Europe, especially Switzerland, of having the major parties share the executive power,” he said. “In addition, if voters on both sides of the political aisle are represented in the executive branch, you don't have a mass of disaffected voters who are receptive to a strategy of obstruction.”

Professor Orentlicher is a Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law, and co-director of the Hall Center for Law and Health. He is the author of the book, “Two Presidents Are Better Than One: The Case for a Bipartisan Executive Branch,” published in March 2013 by NYU Press.