Yeah, their shelf life is rather short, at least in most cases.
I have a few reforms that would improve their shelf life but none of them will ever happen:
1) First and foremost, term limits. The notion of a career politician should simply NOT exist.
2) No one actively sitting in one elected or appointed office should be allowed to campaign for another position, possibly during recess periods but preferably not at all.
3) Pay raises for elected/appointed officials should be voted on by the people, not those holding those offices. I can't walk into my bosses office and set what my pay raise will be each year, similarly elected/appointed officials shouldn't be able to set their own raises.
There are others, but these would be a great start, too bad none of them will ever happen.