It has long been argued that congressional term limits are easy and productive measures to enhance the effectiveness of government and congress, along with countering corrupt practices. However, in reality, the practice of #termlimits seems counterproductive, and a bad return on the investment.
In any civilized and progressive democratic setup, the most important element is a voter, and its political awareness and choices. By imposing term limits for the legislators, you seize the right of choice that the voter has. The choices of voters are restricted when a candidate is barred from participating in the election process. Sen. Mazie Hirono has perfectly said, “There are better and easier ways, and I would say more effective ways, to connect the government more directly and honestly to the people. In my view, the most effective term limits are elections, and the most knowledgeable term-limiters are voters.”
The proponents of the term limit believe that it will enhance the efficacy of the congress and overall administration of the country. They further maintain, due to term limits, that new blood will be introduced in Congress with new ideas, and the lack of fear of the ballot box will help them take bold policy measures. However, many of seasoned politicians and studies think otherwise. Lynda Powell, a political science professor at the University of Rochester who has researched term limits since 1995, said “term-limited state legislatures do not have significantly different demographics than non-term-limited legislatures; term-limited legislators statistically spend less time addressing constituent casework, and those elected officials have less time overall to form working relationships with their fellow lawmakers”.
Another considerable disadvantage of the term limits is the loss of seasoned politicians and their hard-earned experience. Legislation and policymaking is a skill and a profession like any other. It requires practice, acumen, experience, and foresight. However, in some cases, even the policies and legislation business proceeded by the veteran politicians show some loopholes and lacunas. Thus, risking such tough and meticulous work in the hands of new legislators is not a favorable idea. Limits on the congressional terms make the hard-earned lawmaking and policymaking experience go in vain.
Moreover, members who know their time in #Congress is limited might not get themselves involved passionately in the business and develop less expertise on specific issues. They might find the skill and knowledge less valuable shortly when their term ends.
Do we force our best employees who have remarkable experience and expertise to retire without any consideration? Of course not! Instead, they are valued and paid more in every form. With term limits, the knowledge and talent of efficient lawmakers will run up against a strict time horizon. Simply kicking out the lawmakers who know the inns and outs policymaking due to term limit is just a bad return on the investment. Rather, capitalizing on their skills is a better idea all around.
Why would a loved and appreciated politician be barred from the lawmaking? If there is a transparent election every time on the defined period, the decision of imposing any limit cannot be justified by any means. It will be a grave injustice to lead the most seasoned lawmakers out of office due to some counterproductive term limit arrangements. “Nothing renders government more unstable than a frequent change of the persons that administer it.” –Roger Sherman, open letter, 1788.
