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Comment by whatever1 | Hacker News Reader

It is absolutely correct, hence why limited terms are a prerequisite for functioning democracies.

An ill intentioned participant in power will not have unlimited time to do that much damage. A good intentioned participant will not have too much time to become corrupted.

The downside is that a good intentioned ruler, may not have enough time to accomplish their good vision. But my thesis is that is a reasonable price to pay to avoid the opposite. A malicious ruler with infinite time to complete their destructive plan.

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> A good intentioned participant will not have too much time to become corrupted.

The operation of the revolving door would seem to imply otherwise. You set up a situation where politicians are not just expected but required to leave office and then need a job in the private sector. Are they then inclined to do things while in office that make it more or less likely that they get a lucrative gig as soon as their term is up?

> A malicious ruler with infinite time to complete their destructive plan.

The assumption is that the ruler is the elected official. What do you do if the malicious ruler is a corporation and the elected official is just a fungible subordinate?

Campaign finance is another piece of the puzzle to avoid revolving doors. Cutting it slows down the initial introduction phase.

Group A invests millions of dollars into your campaign.

You go into politics in a debt to Group A that you feel obligated to repay.

You give favorable treatment to Group A in your political career.

Group A provides a lucrative contract to you after you leave politics so that they have a good reputation with the other politicians they finance.

> Group A invests millions of dollars into your campaign.

The problem is elections aren't just about donations. Suppose you're not a fan of Zuck/Musk/whoever, or pick your least favorite media conglomerate. Is limiting their financial contributions to a campaign going to meaningfully reduce their influence? Of course not, because it mainly comes from controlling the feed or the reporting, so limiting money is primarily to the detriment of their opponents. This is one of the reasons you hear some talk about "campaign finance" from the media industry -- it lets billion dollar media corporations pretend they're defending the little guy when they're really trying to cement an asymmetric advantage in influencing politics because they can de facto donate airtime rather than money. But they have a mixed incentive, because they're also the ones getting money from the ads and don't actually want the spigot closed, which is probably why it's more talk than action.

And then there's this:

> Group A provides a lucrative contract to you after you leave politics so that they have a good reputation with the other politicians they finance.

Which isn't campaign finance at all. It's also kind of a hard problem, because after someone leaves office, it's reasonably expected that they're going to work somewhere, but then how are you supposed to tell if they're getting a fat paycheck because they're currently providing a valuable service or because they were previously providing a valuable service? It's not like they're going to put "deferred bribe" in the memo field of the check.

A good intentioned participant will not have unlimited time to do good

If infinity joins the discussion, I'd venture it is Time that corrupts.

But will the elected representatives have the time needed to get good at their jobs? If not they might just be pushed around by bad actors.

  >> power attracts the corrupt
  >  hence why limited terms are a prerequisite for functioning democracies.

The practical effect of limited terms is a set of hapless electeds who depend on the kindness of lobbyists or other stakeholders to perform core duties, such as write effective legislation. In terms of the Gervais Principle [0], the sociopaths move from elected to lobby (which is a natural career progression already) and emplace more of the clueless as elected officials.

But if you want to take Vienna, take Vienna! Embrace limited power

Limited government power is often rightfully challenged as being unbalanced to the tremendous power of non-government entities such as corporations. However, this claim elides that the power and charter of any particular entity is downstream of what is granted and enabled by government functions. Less government power makes for less powerful corporations.

However, once everything is cut down a few notches, will the remaining power still attract the "corrupt?" Yes, power, status and other social markers will still exist and act like a bug lamp for sociopaths. But on the plus side they won't be as able, as you say, "to do that much damage."

0. https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

> a set of hapless electeds who depend on the kindness of lobbyists or other stakeholders to perform core duties

You have this already without term limits. An elected officeholder is given more than enough resources to be enabled to perform her duties, if she wants to. It's a matter of willingness, term limits aren't making things worse than they might otherwise be.

> term limits aren't making things worse than they might otherwise be.

I disagree. Term limits make politicians unaccountable to their constituents and thereby more open to bribes from lobbyists. If they know they can't seek reelection no matter what, they have no motivation not to accept a bribe or disregard everything they campaigned on. On the other hand, when politicians don't have term limits, they must at least worry about their next election campaign and whether the things they're doing right now will ruin their chances at being elected again.

Note: when I say accept a bribe I'm talking about being wined, dined and lobbied by lobbyists, not literally accepting bribes that would get them thrown in jail.

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