Limit politicians’ time in office? Once elected, do the job A feel-good initiative that and then return home will only make matters worse

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Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. Take term limits for elected officials, for example. This fall, Florida voters will decide whether School Board members will be limited to eight years in office, consistent with legislators, the governor and the Cabinet. I predict the voters will overwhelmingly support such a measure.

Term limits are a surefire way to force government to refresh itself every several years. Just as important, they serve as another way to limit influence and power by any one individual.

Our system of a representative republic is the best in the world, but it is not perfect. One valid criticism against public officials is that many begin serving the common good, but slowly become focused on their own ability to influence others and make a name for themselves. The public which they serve often becomes an afterthought that is only shown attention during an election cycle.

While I would hope that most people entering public office do so with a genuine desire to faithfully and earnestly serve their constituency, many often lose touch with whom they represent and lose perspective about why they are in office to begin with.

We have seen many times, and at every level of government, that serving in office becomes about self-preservation, self-promotion and self-enrichment.

That is why term limits, as a popular movement, is beginning to take hold. Here in Florida, as in so many states, we have limited the ability of our elected officials at the state level to consolidate and wield power. Right now, 15 states have term-limited legislatures and 34 have term-limited governors.

The consequences of limitless elective office can be seen at the federal level, where congressmen and senators are overwhelmingly re-elected and end up serving years, decades and generations. I would submit that longterm public service erodes the ability to understand, think about and act in the best interests of the public.

This is not a partisan issue, as we all recognize public officials on both sides of the aisle who care more about getting elected than acting in the public interest. Critics contend that term limits lead to the rise in power of lobbyists and bureaucrats, for which there may be some truth. At the very least, however, term limits reduce the ability of outside influences to become the lifeline of a politician’s career.

Elections, and ultimately term limits, ensure that people don’t stay in office so long that they lose sight of why they are there to begin with. Florida voters should seize every opportunity to enact term limits, even at the local level, as they create another level of protection from those who use public office for private gain. Certainly, there are many selfless and dedicated people who serve the public in office, and term limits will reduce their time in office, as well. But good government demands that we should reboot our institutions every so often with new ideas, new blood, and with a renewed sense of service over self. Term limits guarantee that we will. COMMENTARY |

Does experience matter? If not, then your doctor should be just out of medical school. Your children should be taught by inexperienced teachers. The high-tech products you purchase shouldn’t be designed by anyone with more than twelve years’ experience.

Does it make any more sense for Gov. Rick Scott to support term limits for U.S. senators?

In a 2013 Gallup poll, 75 percent of Americans said they supported term limits. It may seem like an easy “fix,” but are term limits really the answer to making government more accountable?

There is a perennial myth in Washington (or the statehouse, the school board or county and municipal government) that the longer our elected representatives spend in office, the more corrupt and unresponsive to voters they become. Therefore, the only way to ensure good judgment is to replace experienced policy makers with fresh-faced, rookie lawmakers who don't understand how government works.

For those who argue that term limits will resolve all the failings of our elective offices, I suggest that we’ve always had term limits, which is embraced in the simple right to vote. If we don’t like our politicians, we can vote them out of office.

Admittedly, more serious problems than terms of office often prevent us from throwing incumbents out of office, including the legalized bribery system that defines the way we finance campaigns, gerrymandered districts, voter apathy and the very power of incumbency itself.

But let’s solve these problems rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Believe it or not, there are some public-spirited officeholders who are trying to do the right thing. And, I prefer to avoid term limits, which arbitrarily prevents me from voting for candidates of my choice.

There are other reasons I oppose term limits.

They clearly haven’t worked in the Florida Legislature, where lobbyists, campaign consultants and veteran staff members arguably have more power than individual legislators. Moreover, term limits amplify and corrode the roles of all-powerful speaker of the House and president of the Senate, who start jockeying for power from the moment they are elected, knowing that the time for opportunity is short, and political alliances need to be formed quickly, often at the expense of sound public policy. Political scientists also aren’t fond of term limits. Fifteen states have them. So, we actually can know something about their effects. Political scientists point out that term limits weaken the legislative branch and empower the executive branch. Term limits also empower special interests and lobbyists.

The conclusion from a 50-state survey published by the Legislative Studies Quarterly in 2006 states: “Term limits weaken the legislative branch relative to the executive. Governors and the executive bureaucracy are reported to be more influential over legislative outcomes in states where term limits are on the books than where they are not.”

My biggest problem with term limits is that it’s a that does nothing to resolve the problems that plague our democracy: excessive, nontransparent campaign contributions, gerrymandered legislative districts, voter suppression, citizen apathy and ignorance of basic history and civics.

I’m as upset with the failure of Congress to address, much less resolve, our fundamental issues as the next guy. But let’s direct our anger to support solutions that genuinely address its problems rather than a feel-good initiative that will only make matters worse.