Increased democratic participation increases the likelihood of unanimity and therefore more efficient collective choices. Political constraints Finally, the Keynesian paradigm, grounded in the public interest theory implies that experienced lawmakers are essential to good policy. The added experience will increase these politicians' ability to recognize the true public interest and make enlightened policy decisions. The result is the intellectual support of career politicians. Again, the insights of Professor Buchanan lead to exactly the opposite conclusion.
Tenured politicians are more responsive to special interest groups rather than voters.
Career politicians gain experience not in identifying the public interest but in listening to lobbyists and other entrenched interests. The Buchanan-inspired solution is a change in the rules, strict constitutional term limits placed on political office. It has taken a farm boy raised near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to remind us that politicians are politicians and that people are people no matter in what institutional structure they find their employment. It has taken a scholar skeptical of the traditional ivory tower academy to call into question the ability and judgment of any enlightened class. I do not yet know how I shall react when and if specific changes in rules are more or less directly traceable to my influence.