Cristina Cendejas

POLS 1100: Argument

11/08/2016
Misrepresentation
Should members of Congress (Representatives and Senators) have term limits? If not, why not?
If yes, why and how should they be structured?
The debate still remains as to whether or not there should be term limits set in place for
congressmen. This debate has been a long debate that started clear back in the early 1900s,
which is still an ongoing topic being debated today. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the
pros and cons of implementing term limits and how it may reduce special interests and keep
upper class from controlling political aspects. By implementing term limits, it will prevent long
serving members of congress from acquiring too much power that may be negatively influenced
by self interests. It will also help reduce incentives to invest re-election money to new,
short-serving representatives. By adding limitations, it will help aid in keeping politicians focus
on the needs of the people. Turn over will insure a constant flow of fresh new ideas rather than
the usual reelection of career politicians.
The Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The US
congress is few of the most powerful positions someone can hold. They are granted the authority
to execute the legislation, declare war, and have to right to accept or decline any of the
Presidential appointments. Under the Constitution, members of the House of Representatives
serve an unlimited number of 2-year terms, meanwhile members of the Senate serve an unlimited
6-year term. A proposed amendment was to limit the number of terms the two governing powers
can serve, however it was never passed.

Term limits are defined as a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a member of
congress may serve in their elected office. A person whom is elected into an important position
to represent a town, city, state, or country can only hold that position for a certain set amount of
time before they must step down and allow someone else to take over the position.
Setting term limits would only be the beginning of a much-needed change in the
government. The real problem with our government and country is the lack of knowledge
Americans have on politics. There is numerous of people who pay attention and understand
politics, but even a larger number of people who do not understand how politics work or pay
close attention to our government, let alone who runs it. It is said if politicians are not doing a
good job in office, we can simply vote for someone else. However, most of the public dont
know who is in office, neither would they know what they are publicly doing to make our voices
hear.
To emphasize, congress has the greatest power- to regulate and implement laws that
affect the economy of America. Because so much influence and power is given to these two
governing powers, it is important to have great representation in regards to the best interest for
the people. Not to mention-the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Because members of Congress are allowed unlimited term limits, we come across
drawbacks from improving our government. Term limits will help avoid government malpractice
and bring a new perspective to Congress by authorizing legislative turnover. Longer serving
members of congress cease to provide new ideas for the improvement of democracy. It holds
back new, younger, and more aspiring lawmakers who seek a position in Congress, which
prevents new updated ideas from reaching Congress. Due to the new issues people are seeing

today, it is important to have some Millennials take over and bring in new ideas for
improvement. By having longer-serving politicians in office, we have a great misrepresentation
of people serving us up to today. This does not allow any challenges to the older-set ideas that
reside in Congress today.
By not having term limits, Congressmen are more concerned about keeping a good
reputation and about raising money for their next campaign. Term limits would shift the mindset
and focus more on the people's needs instead of the congressmens personal needs to be able to
get re-elected to keep their job. Money is a key factor in elections. By implementing term limits,
it would help decrease the amount being spent on campaigning, which could potentially help
boost our economy. We spend about billion of dollars on elections, when there are more
important issues at hand that we could be investing the money in. Sadly, a middle class person
who better understands the problems facing the average citizen is unlikely to get elected
compared to a wealthy incumbent, who is usually supported by their party, contributing
organizations and special interests.Allowing more qualified people will allow others more
opportunities to win elections and close the wealth gap.
Having term limits would allow for new perspective in the congress more often. Change
isnt always a good thing but at this point in time, it is what our country needs. Because we are
not implementing term limits, we are being ran by the government, instead of the voice of the
people. Candidates will be more likely to run for the purpose of serving the people. The same
officials that are re-elected every so often and already have a set idea on how they believe our
government needs to run-or is already running. Because of name recognition, and of course the
power of money, it can be easy to stay in office. Without legitimate competition, there is no

incentive for a member of Congress to serve the public. In a sense, it is a lost cause for citizens to
campaign against current members of Congress. By allowing new perspectives, it would allow
new issues that are being over seen, to be brought to the table.
On the contrary, many congressmen use this as their careers. These people devote their
lives to serve the country and the people. We have many dedicated, honest, families holding this
position and truly fighting for their job each time election comes around. If we set term limits on
them, there would be a lot of families out of a job. We may find that by setting term limits would
push away a lot of great people from running. Allowing there to be new perspectives so often
may also actually disrupt the system. Having a less experienced person in office may make more
of a mess than improve it at all.
A suggestion would be to change the term limits to two six year terms for Senate and six
two year terms for House of representatives. . By limiting their position terms to 12 years it
would be fair to the politician as well as to the people. Although they wont be able to have a
definite political career, they have the opportunity to be re-elected and serve more time. This
allows the public to vote for new elected officials and have a new start in government if they feel
it is not working out. With such proposals, there will be more pressure for politicians to use their
time wisely and do whatever possible to make a change and prove to the people they are willing
to help the public. Overall, the point is to make Americans voices heard, meaning we need to
find better and current representation of our communities.

Works Cited:
"About U.S. Term Limits - U.S. Term Limits." US Term Limits. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
<https://www.termlimits.org/about/>.
"The Legislative Branch." The White House. The White House, 01 Apr. 2015. Web. 09 Nov.
2016. <https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/legislative-branch>.
"Arguments for and against Term Limits." Voice For Liberty in Wichita. N.p., 30 May 2014.
Web. 10 Nov. 2016. <http://wichitaliberty.org/politics/arguments-term-limits/>.
"Term Limits: The Only Way to Clean Up Congress." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web.
11 Nov. 2016.
<http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1994/08/bg994nbsp-term-limitsnbsp-the-only-way>.
N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2015/01/16/states-show-term-limits-wouldnt-work-for
-congress>.