Democracy and the future : future-regarding governance in democratic systems / edited by Michael K. MacKenzie, Maija Setälä and Simo Kyllönen.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

MacKenzie, Michael K., editor.

Setälä, Maija, editor.

Kyllönen, Simo, editor.

Series:

Edinburgh scholarship online.

Edinburgh scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Representative government and representation.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 321 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

This book brings together political philosophers, democratic theorists, empirical political scientists and policy experts to examine how democratic systems might be designed so that the long-term consequences of our decisions are considered in policymaking processes. It examines these topics from many different perspectives - it is interdisciplinary and globally oriented - but it also explores Finland as an example of how future-regarding governance might be done. Finland has one of the most advanced governmental foresight systems in the world, including a unique parliamentary institution called the 'Committee for the Future', and it has enjoyed a stable, multiparty government for decades. The contributors identify tensions between the present and the future, as well as between reversibility and commitment, independence and politicisation, and trust and critique, which have to be navigated in order to achieve long-term, collective goals. The book concludes that elite-driven institutions should be complemented by robust institutions for public participation and deliberation in order to retain responsiveness while at the same time forging public commitments for future-regarding action.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

FIGURES AND TABLES

CONTRIBUTORS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION The Challenges and Possibilities of Future-Regarding Governance

Part One The Challenges of Long-Term Decision Making

ONE Three Challenges for Long-Term Decision-Making in Democracies: Boundaries, Knowledge and Incentives

TWO Democratic Weakness of Will

THREE Reversibility and Democracy: The Epistemic Functions of Political Competition

FOUR The Covid-19 Pandemic and Global Climate Change: Comparing Two Long-term Dangers

Part Two Thinking and Acting in Future-Regarding Ways

FIVE Perspective-Taking, Deliberation and Future Generations

SIX Hearing Silent Voices? Representing Identified and Statistical Policy Victims

SEVEN Future-Regarding Democratic Leadership

Part Three Institutional Design

EIGHT Democratic Design for Future-Regarding Institutions

NINE Democratic Institutions and Future Generations

Part Four Long-Term Policymaking in Finland

TEN The Finnish National Foresight System

ELEVEN Voter Myopia Reassessed

TWELVE Deliberative Minipublics and Climate Change Policy

THIRTEEN Conclusion: Future-Regarding Governance - Four Tensions and a Research Agenda

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 07 Mar 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-3995-1276-5

OCLC:

1417147676