Democracy and the Future

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.

Author Biography

Michael K. MacKenzie is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include democratic theory, intergenerational relations, deliberation, environmental policy, political representation, institutional design, and public engagement. He is the author of Future Publics: Democracy, Deliberation, and Future-Regarding Collective Action, New York: Oxford University Press (2021) along with several other books, chapters and articles. Maija Setälä is Professor in Political Science at the University of Turku. She specializes in democratic theory, with a focus on deliberative democracy, direct democracy, and democratic innovations. She is the author of Referendums and Democratic Government: Normative Theory and the Analysis of Institutions, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press (1999) and several other chapters and articles both in English
and Finnish.

Simo Kyllönen is Lecturer in Research Ethics and Open Science at the University of Helsinki. His main research topics are related to intergenerational justice, democratic theory and ethics of climate change. He has contributed to books and journals on climate change, intergenerational ethics and democracy.