Impact As the United States entered the twenty-first
century, the enthusiasm for term limits has appeared
to wane. Advocates of reform have sought other ave-
nues for ensuring responsive government. Term lim-
its continued to affect governance in some states, with
the long-term results still to be ascertained.
Further Reading
Carey, John M.Term Limits and Legislative Representa-
tion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Examines term limits in the Costa Rican and Ven-
ezuelan political systems as a basis for predicting
possible effects of term limits in the United
States.
Kousser, Thad.Term Limits and the Dismantling of State
Legislative Professionalism. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2004. Broad-based study of the
impact of term limits.
Sarbaugh-Thompson, Marjorie, et al.The Political
and Institutional Effects of Term Limits. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Uses Michigan as a
case study to examine fully all of the implications
of term limits on a state legislature.
John M. Theilmann
See also Campaign finance scandal; Contract with
America; Gingrich, Newt.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Identification Science-fiction film
Director James Cameron (1954- )
Date Released on July 3, 1991
A sequel to the 1984 cult favorite, this film utilized state-of-
the-art special effects and a hip, updated stor y line to turn
what had been a single film into a lucrative franchise span-
ning several decades.
InTerminator 2: Judgment Day, Skynet, the artificial in-
telligence responsible for a planetwide nuclear ca-
tastrophe, sends an advanced terminator from the
future to kill John Connor at age ten, since the origi-
nal mission to kill his mother before John’s birth
had failed. As inThe Terminator, the human resis-
tance sends a soldier to protect John, but this time
the protector is another terminator that John him-
self reprogrammed in the future.
At the time it was filmed,Terminator 2was the most
expensive film ever made. Both Arnold Schwarze-
negger and Linda Hamilton reprised their original
roles; Schwarzenegger’s reprogrammed terminator
displayed more deadpan humor and humanity as he
learned to value human life, while Hamilton’s radi-
cal physical transformation, in which she lost weight
and gained muscle to portray the determined sol-
dier that Sarah ultimately became, stunned audi-
ences.Terminator 2also introduced Edward Furlong,
an unknown actor who earned positive reviews for
his portrayal of the young John Connor.
Terminator 2was an immediate hit with audiences,
who enjoyed the surprise twist that Schwarzenegger
was a “good” instead of a bad terminator. They were
also enthralled with the T-1000 model, played with
understated yet effective menace by Robert Patrick.
Comprised of a “liquid metal” alloy, the T-1000 could
mimic any person it encountered, and the highly re-The Nineties in America Terminator 2: Judgment Day 845
Workers complete a three-dimensional billboard for a Universal
Studios FloridaTerminator 2attraction in 1996. The billboard
was situated along Interstate 4 in Orlando.(AP/Wide World
Photos)