Single term for elected officials

I was watching Stephen Colbert interview Trevor Noah for the Late show and Trevor Noah brought up a point that reminded me of debates I've had with friends. He briefly talks about how all politicians should have term limits. He goes to an extreme and says that the all politicians should only get one term. Period. One term.

This reminded me of debates I had around this topic with friends of mine. Not all of us were in favor of term limits. If I remember correctly, I was also in favor of very short terms i.e. one or maybe two at the most for all politicians.

One of the counter-points I remember for not setting very short term limits on politicians is how slow the government moves. The fact that changes in the government happen and propagate very slowly, setting very short term limits on politicians will prevent them from having any meaningful impact. Therefore, it will further prevent people who want to do good from entering politics, for fear of wasting time and energy.

I just realized what a good response for such a counter-point is. I feel that this is a chicken-and-egg problem. Setting short term limits might lead to no meaningful output from the politicians. But, I feel that the lack of term limits are what cause the slow pace of change in the government.

I understand that the government cannot possibly move as fast as public or private enterprises can. But I feel that the lack of term limits removes any incentive for the politician to move quickly.

Just a thought. I need to flesh it out further. Maybe find some hard evidence, if any exists.

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