Government Essay: Term Limits

To me, the concept of term limits seems like another attempt by the public to seek the easy way out. People want a system that runs itself because they are too lazy to stop sitting around and complaining about why Congress did this or that and take the active role needed for our government to succeed. In a sense we already have term limits! All the American people need to do is get off their couches and get involved. If a Senator or Congressman does something that they don’t like, they have the right to be able to vote him or her out of office. If the government decides to create term limits, they will be punishing the voters who do want to stay involved and wasting the invaluable experience of many seasoned Congressmen. By not allowing the people to vote for who they believe is the most capable to represent them, term limits undermine democracy.

George Will said he believed term limits would get rid of the career politicians that have complicated the government and encouraged lobbyists thus creating simpler policy. It would be nice to have a simpler policy, but today’s complicated society requires equally complex legislation. Policy passed by amateur politicians may be simpler but, because of their inexperience, it may create clumsier government that might foul up the economy. Most probably, if the legislature had mostly amateur members, real policy decisions and the oversight of financial markets and international affairs would be taken away from an overwhelmed Congress out of its league and made instead by "special interests."

If term limits were implemented, the position of Congressmen would be viewed as merely a steppingstone for a future career. Politicians would be more concerned with what they were going to do next than their duties. This would lead to corruption and deals with "special interests" at the end of their terms so that they could land a good position after their service was through. Policy quality might also suffer if term limits are allowed. There would be a much higher incentive to pass flashy legislation that would affect the here and now and long term policy would be put on the back burner.

Attempts to increase competition by limiting the presidential terms have not been successful, so why should we assume that limiting Congressional terms would have that effect? There are problems with the government and with Congressional standards, but these problems may be solved by means other than term limits: campaign finance reform, disclosure, enforcement of ethical standards, and political leadership. An amendment to the Constitution is not the answer.