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This article analyses the law of 30 July 2003, which reduced the term of office of Senators from 9 to 6 years, in an effort to demonstrate that the setting of electoral rhythms can, in some cases, follow from political calculations. Why, we ask, would Senators willingly have shortened their own term of office? The study of this self-reform allows us to understand at once the logic and the guarantees that underpin it. In this specific case, indeed, self-limitation allowed the Senate to extend its mission of representing territorial units without in so doing putting at risk the careers of its members. Modifying the length of term, we conclude, can serve strategic purposes in much the same way as redistricting or changing electoral rules.