There are term limits! We can vote out any Representative after a 2-year term, a Senator after a 6-year term, or a President after a 4-year term. We don’t think of elec-tions as term limits, but our Founders did. The blame for career politicians rests solely on We the People because we vote for the familiar. Remember the Declaration of Independence phrase, “…all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable… We put up with the status quo because change takes work.
Even more, we don’t do the hard work of discovering a candidate’s history because everything else we like or are obligated to do takes up our time. Research outside of an entertaining screen is not “fun,” so we repeat the same action over and over, expecting a different result. We will never get a different result until we stop taking advice from the politician, the press, or the professor. https://civicsandcitizenship.org/how-do-you-select-leaders/
Founders’ Advice
What’s more, have your interests been betrayed by an officeholder?
Taking a word of advice from our Founders, James Madison cautioned in Federalist No.10, “Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages [votes] and then betray the interests of the people.” If this has happened to you, why place your trust in that person(s) and expect a different result?
Additionally, in Federalist No. 53, Thomas Jefferson talked about the more experienced members of Congress versus the new members with no experience. He mentions the “snares that may be laid before them (non-experienced members).” Term limits could eventually leave Congress with no true leaders to train new members in the practical knowledge of legislating our Constitutional Republic.
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 saw a lively debate about “rotation in office” (the delegates’ description of term limits). This is America, so you know it was, indeed, a lively debate. Ultimately, having We the People rotate out candidates via elec-tions was the winning way to term limits.
Power to Change
Consider that the House’s service length has increased by about 9.4 years, and in the Senate, 11.2 years. That’s longer than the eight years a President can serve.
Our Constitution gives us the power to change the increasing length of time in office if we exercise our rights.
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship.🇺🇸
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