Why Entrenched Power — Not Partisanship — Is Washington’s Real Problem

By Ron Eller

The dysfunction in Washington isn’t an accident. It’s not just bad luck, bad timing, or bad faith between parties. It’s the natural outcome of a system that rewards permanence over performance.

Across Mississippi and across America, public trust in Congress has collapsed. Polls show that fewer than one in five Americans believe their representatives act in their best interest. The gridlock, the theatrics, the investigations that never resolve — they all stem from the same root cause: power that never changes hands.

The Rise of the Permanent Political Class

What was once a citizen legislature has evolved into a permanent political class. Many members of Congress now serve longer than most Americans spend in a single career. They’ve mastered the art of staying in office — raising money, building networks, and protecting incumbency — but not the art of solving problems.

That was never the Founders’ design. America’s early leaders imagined public service as a temporary duty — not a profession. George Washington set the precedent when he walked away after two terms. His example of voluntary restraint became one of our nation’s greatest traditions: leadership that knows when to step aside.

Why Term Limits Are Structural Reform, Not Slogan

Term limits aren’t a punishment; they’re a reset button. By capping how long lawmakers can serve, we change the incentives that drive behavior in Washington. When politicians know they can’t stay forever, they focus on results rather than reelection. They legislate for legacy, not longevity.

That single structural change would ripple through everything else — campaign finance, lobbying, bipartisanship, even public trust. States that have enacted term limits have seen bursts of innovation and collaboration. New leaders bring new ideas, and the policymaking process becomes less about preserving seniority and more about delivering outcomes.

Cooling the Partisan Fever

Much of today’s division is sustained by careerism. Lawmakers who plan to serve for decades learn that outrage is good politics and compromise is bad optics. But if tenure is limited, so is the incentive to fight forever. A two- or three-term horizon gives elected officials the freedom to work across the aisle without fear of losing their political base — because the base itself changes every few years.

The People Are Already Ahead of Washington

Americans are remarkably united on this issue. More than 80% of voters — Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike — support term limits for Congress. It is one of the few reforms with genuine bipartisan consensus. Yet Congress resists, because no institution voluntarily curtails its own power.

That’s why U.S. Term Limits and other reform movements are turning to the states, where citizens can press for an Article V convention to propose an amendment directly. It’s federalism at work: when Washington won’t act, the states can — and should.

Returning to the Founders’ Intent

The Founding Fathers believed that accountability and humility are the foundation of a functioning republic. Power was never meant to be permanent. Leadership was meant to rotate, ensuring that government always reflected the governed.

We don’t need more career politicians to fix America. We need citizen leaders — people rooted in their communities, who serve for a time, make their mark, and return home to live under the laws they helped craft. That’s how we restore trust. That’s how we end dysfunction. And that’s how we reconnect Washington to the people it was meant to serve.

The greatest danger to democracy isn’t division — it’s stagnation. Term limits are how we get moving again.

Source

https://www.hubcityspokes.com/its-time-restore-trust-government-why-congress-needs-term-limits-6914dfca0c21d