The biggest issue with term limits is that it transfers agency away from elected officials, and empowers unelected staffers who will instead be the ones with all of the institutional knowledge on ‘how things are done’ - further entrenching the rot.
By instead having an age restriction, it still allows for popular politicians to remain within Congress and transfer experience to newer members, while also incentivising politicians to plan long-term and focus on bettering things for future generations, as they will ultimately be the ones responsible for looking after things. After all, “a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they will never sit under.”
We have a great case study in how effective term limits are at achieving good governance: California. It’s just as @thatKamGuy said-- it empowers party bureaucracies, advisors and civil servants at the expense of elected legislators.
California’s governance did improve, but largely due to structural reforms to the budgeting process pushed through when Jerry Brown was governor. Term limits are a band-aid that doesn’t even stick properly.
The biggest issue with term limits is that it transfers agency away from elected officials, and empowers unelected staffers who will instead be the ones with all of the institutional knowledge on ‘how things are done’ - further entrenching the rot.
By instead having an age restriction, it still allows for popular politicians to remain within Congress and transfer experience to newer members, while also incentivising politicians to plan long-term and focus on bettering things for future generations, as they will ultimately be the ones responsible for looking after things. After all, “a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they will never sit under.”
We have a great case study in how effective term limits are at achieving good governance: California. It’s just as @thatKamGuy said-- it empowers party bureaucracies, advisors and civil servants at the expense of elected legislators.
California’s governance did improve, but largely due to structural reforms to the budgeting process pushed through when Jerry Brown was governor. Term limits are a band-aid that doesn’t even stick properly.