Can Democracy Safeguard the Future?
Wiley Series in Surface and Interface Science
1. Edition January 2021
160 Pages, Hardcover
General Reading
Short Description
Our democracies repeatedly fail to safeguard the future. From pensions to pandemics, health and social care through to climate, biodiversity and emerging technologies, democracies have been unable to deliver robust policies for the long term.
In this book, Graham Smith asks why. Exploring the drivers of short-termism, he considers ways of reshaping legislatures and constitutions and proposes strengthening independent offices whose overarching goals do not change at every election. More radically, Smith argues that forms of participatory and deliberative politics offer the most effective democratic response to the current political myopia, as well as a powerful means of protecting the interests of generations to come.
Further versions
Our democracies repeatedly fail to safeguard the future. From pensions to pandemics, health and social care through to climate, biodiversity and emerging technologies, democracies have been unable to deliver robust policies for the long term.
In this book, Graham Smith asks why. Exploring the drivers of short-termism, he considers ways of reshaping legislatures and constitutions and proposes strengthening independent offices whose overarching goals do not change at every election. More radically, Smith argues that forms of participatory and deliberative politics offer the most effective democratic response to the current political myopia, as well as a powerful means of protecting the interests of generations to come.
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Failing to Deal with the Long-Term
Chapter 2: Reimagining Established Institutions
Chapter 3: Bringing in an Independent Voice
Chapter 4: Deepening Democracy for the Long-Term
Afterword: Democratic Design for Future Generations
Further Reading
Notes
Roman Krznaric, author of The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World
"A careful, engaging look at the institutions we have so far devised to protect future generations that shows why some work and some do not and how we might blend together the best of different models. I didn't know 90% of what's in this book - and I thought I knew quite a lot."
Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University
