There is a long-standing proposal to address the problem of corruption in politics by proposing that all politicians be limited to the number of terms they are allowed to serve. We often think this is a modern concept but the idea has been around forever and is well-documented in both the Greek and Roman eras. It has been tried in a variety of forms over the centuries and every effort in this approach has been unsuccessful. Today’s proponents are firm in the belief that this will solve the problem of corruption in politics despite the overwhelming history of failure. Although I refer to the United States political process in this article to highlight well-known examples, please understand that the same principles apply on a global scale to all forms of government so the solution proposed by the Association to Improve Government is much broader in its impact.
I suggest you visit, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_limits_in_the_United_States for a historical review of this phenomenon. The continued focus on this approach to addressing corruption in politics is clearly another example of addressing the symptoms as opposed to the cause.
One simple example of how this approach was defeated in the past would clearly be utilized today should term limits become the law of the land. The real power in US politics is not held at the representative level, it is controlled at the party level. The candidate is approved at the party level, financially supported by the party and ultimately controlled by the party. They are so blatant in this exercise of concentrated power that the party appoints an enforcement individual openly and titles his position, the “Whip”. Should term limits be enacted, it would have virtually no impact on the party other than the periodic appointment of a new puppet at the designated term limits to carry out their desires. In fact, this is exactly what occurred, “When term limits were introduced in the 1830’s and the office of representative became a means of taking turns in the distribution of political prizes and was viewed as a payoff to the party faithful.”
The symptom is the unending corruption that is evident and has been evident in all political processes. Term limits are clearly not an effective solution and have been proven so throughout history.
Can the cause be identified and addressed effectively? Is there anything new or innovative in the effort to eliminate the concentration of power and the resulting corruption that is so common in all global political establishments? Yes there is!
To understand the innovative idea to eliminate corruption and reduce the concentration of power visit improvegovernment.org and join the movement. Become part of the movement and let’s improve governments everywhere.
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