Term Limits -- Yes or No?

On various occasions I've seen the call for the American people to enact term limits for politicians.

While I can understand the desire to limit the time a person can spend in office, I wondered if legislation was the right approach.

So, in my first "soap box" post, I will tell state that I don't think term limits are a good idea.

First, we would see good politicians (yes, there are a few) affected as well as bad politicians. Isn't that something we rail about in gun control laws, Except in gun control the laws usually impact the law abiding more then the criminals. I'm not sure that would be the case of term limits, I think there are more bad or mediocre politicians that will be effected then good ones. Still, the idea is one size doesn't fit all. That is one of the aspects I can't agree with, having statutory time constraints would limit our freedom to choose who we want to represent us. Not being able to vote for someone is a limitation of our right to choose. Besides, we already have term limits, if we choose to use them. Simply vote the bums out of office.

There are also some other drawbacks to the idea of term limits that aren't as readily apparent. There is a learning curve on how to be an effective politician. If we never let the politicians stay in office long enough to figure it out, we will always be saddled with people trying to learn their job instead of doing it. Most term limits would allow each individual office holder long enough to learn their jobs, but the institutional memory and effective would suffer. We need people who have been there long enough to teach the best practices to the new people. That can only be accomplished if we aren't churning through the office holders every 3rd or 4th cycle.
Term limits would also increase and entrench the existing bureaucracies, actually limiting our ability to make change. Since each office holder would have to hire a new staff or deal with the existing bureaucracy, those unelected folks would gain more power, more control over the system - with out being accountable to the public via election.
I also think that term limits would increase, not decrease, voter apathy. People could take a "wait them out" approach to politicians. Knowing there is a limit on how long someone can stay in office might reduce the motivation to try to get them out of office earlier.


Now since I don't want to be accuse of not offering any solutions, I'll make some suggestions on what we can do instead of term limits.
First, Limit the gerrymandering that occurs. Don't allow politicians to draw district lines in order to guarantee election. This can be done through legislation or it can be done by getting involved in that process.

Second, most of the (federal) Congressional structure has been created by them. Let's elect people who will change up that system. Especially the system of rewarding loyalty, vote buying, etc with prominent or influential committee positions. Let's create a lottery system that randomly assigns people to the committees. This reduces the power and ability to block legislation, creates opportunities for representatives to learn about different areas. In the business world, this is simply called cross training. Also, we can continue to work on reducing the power of representatives to create earmarks for their district.

Third, we can talk to our representatives. We can let them know what is important to us, not just assume they know. We can't provide ideas, suggestions, even party platform planks. We can let our voices be heard in constructive ways, not just complaining about things we don't like. I've been as guilty of this as anyone. I've only called, written or emailed my representative when they did something I didn't like. Getting used to the idea of regularly communicating with the elected officials takes a little getting used to, but doesn't it give more weight to an idea if the elected officials hear good news from us as well as the bad?

Fourth and most importantly, we can start long before the highest levels of government. We can vote for people who represent the values we share, we can vote for people who will either do as they promise or they don't get elected again. All this can be accomplished at the local, county and even state level.
The state and federal representatives of tomorrow get their start at this level. Most of the local or regional elections are controlled by a very small number of voters. It is easier to influence people on a smaller scale then to try to change their behavior after years in office and at higher levels.


Local elections are fast coming up, do you know what is on the ballot, who you are voting for?

Leave a comment, let me know your opinion.