document: The root of the problems with Congress is that , barring major scandal , it is almost impossible to defeat an incumbent . In the past three elections , 96 % or more of House incumbents who ran won . This lack of turnover has resulted in legislative arrogance , a dearth of new ideas and unaccountability . Congress just violated its legal budget deadline ; where are the special prosecutors ? Franking privileges , huge staffs , gerrymandering and unfair campaign finance laws have combined to give incumbents a grossly unfair advantage . One out of four House districts this year likely will have an incumbent running with no major-party opposition -- up from one out of five in 1988 . One-candidate races are now spreading to the Senate . Democratic Arkansas Senator David Pryor had spirited competition in 1984 when he won with 57 % ; this year he has no opponent at all . Senators have become just as brazen as their House brethren in shutting out competition . Take Republican Senator Larry Pressler 's latest mailing to South Dakotans . It contains five pictures of the Senator and mentions his name 29 times on four pages . Last year , Mr. Pressler sent out more than 2.8 million pieces of mail , the equivalent of 10 pieces per household . Critics of term-limits say that -- franked mail or not -- it 's wrong to blame Congress for the now nearly 100 % re-election rates since it is just as easy to vote against an incumbent as for . Michael Kinsley writes in the New Republic that if incumbents always win , it 's because voters ca n't be bothered . This presumes that voters can find out who the other candidate is . It is a political axiom that people wo n't vote for someone they know nothing about . That takes money , and skewed campaign finance laws combined with taxpayer-paid junk mail effectively mean that only incumbents have the cash to make themselves known and to be taken seriously by the media . Incumbents ended the 1988 elections with $ 63 million left over , while challengers were able to raise and spend a total of only $ 39 million . Some complain that limiting terms would infringe on democracy by not allowing voters to elect whom they please . The polls indicate voters by two to one think the only way they can control Congress effectively is by limiting terms . We also note that these critics are not agitating in support of Ronald Reagan 's call for repeal of the two-term limit for Presidents . A big problem of the current system limiting Presidents but not Congress is that this means political power is constantly tipped in favor of the legislative branch . Getting incumbents to reduce the advantages they have voted themselves is something like asking banks to leave their vaults unlocked . That 's why the Washington , D.C.-based Americans to Limit Congressional Terms is asking states to call for a constitutional amendment to limit terms . It already has won in Utah and South Dakota . This fall , the group will try to get both incumbents and challengers to pledge they will not serve more than 12 years in office . Self-imposed limits on office-holding were once part of this country 's public-service ethic , with Members returning to private life after a couple of terms . As late as 1860 , the average length of House service was four years . The number of freshmen in a new House never dipped below 30 % until 1901 . In the current House it is 8 % . Term limitation , once the accepted American tradition , has been replaced by congressional careerism . The opinion polls for term limitation show that the voters do n't like the change . They now think the voluntary service limitation of the past must be made mandatory . -- Curbing the Incumbents Do you think there should be a limit to the number of times a member of the House of Representatives can be elected to a two-year term , or not ? FAVOR OPPOSE Total Sample 61 % 31 % By Party Republicans 64 % 28 % Democrats 60 30 By Philosophy/Ideology Liberal 58 34 Moderate 64 30 Conservative 63 29 By Presidential Preference Voters pro-Bush 61 32 Voters anti-Bush 60 28 By Race White 61 31 Black 61 27 By Gender Men 57 35 Women 63 27 Source : New York Times/CBS News poll . Survey of 1,515 adults conducted March 30-April 2 , 1990 , with a 3 % margin of error .
extractive_keyphrases: term limitation limit congressional terms house incumbents opinion polls congressional careerism constitutional amendment legislative arrogance unfair advantage unfair campaign finance laws voluntary service limitation