Thread: American Politics Anyone?

Is the necessity of a term limit a failure of the democratic process?

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Is the necessity of a term limit a failure of the democratic process?

Honestly??? yes I believe it is,,, Half the term of the politician is to set themselves up for re-election so perhaps with term limits they will be more concerned with getting there, getting the job done, and getting the heck home...
It will also put a huge monkey wrench in the whole PAC and special interest money and influence machine...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Half the term of the politician is to set themselves up for re-election so perhaps with term limits they will be more concerned with getting there, getting the job done, and getting the heck home...
It will also put a huge monkey wrench in the whole PAC and special interest money and influence machine...

This makes me laugh. Because whenever I think about what I dislike about any organization of people, the main two things that come to mind are "internal politics" and "bureaucracy." I wonder if anyone actually has a positive connotation for either term.

I do think restructuring the allowed number of terms could be a good thing. So could downplaying the role of special interest groups (lots of ways to do that, I don't think I could even count). Both would stop politicians from spending so much time covering their own butts and force them to do... um... their jobs - serving the public. Politics is not a career, it is a service.

I also strongly agree with Nun's post above mine - the failure lies largely with the electorate; that is the failure of the democratic process.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Is the necessity of a term limit a failure of the democratic process?

Yes. The people have been content to sit on their butts and think its a my party versus theirs scenario, most times without considering what is really going on. Far too many elections are more like Pro wrestling events, the Masked Avenger versus the Challenger. They step into the ring amidst the cheers and jeers throwing each other around until the scenario plays out. Then they head for the showers, pick up their pay envelopes and head to the bar together laughing at the rubes in the audience who think it real.

We need to be more involved as an electorate, we need to ask the questions instead of the hand picked commentators, and we need to expect real answers in plain English that can be understood. There are many other issues that need to be discussed, but I still put the majority of the blame on a lazy electorate that will not educate itself and will look to the politicians for leadership when it is the responsibility of the electorate to be the leadership.