Institutional Proxy Representatives of Future Generations: A Comparative Analysis of Types and Design Features

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Future generations will be strongly affected by political decisions made today (e.g., by the long-term consequences of climate change). According to the democratic all-affected principle, the interests of everyone affected by political decisions should be considered in the political decision-making process. Future generations cannot influence democratic decision-making, since they do not yet exist. Election-based democratic incentive systems are said to make it difficult to consider the needs of future generations today. Surprisingly, however, since the early 1990s, an increasing number of democracies have established what could be called institutional proxy representatives of future generations (proxies), i.e., public bodies with institutionalized access to government and/or parliament that introduce the construed interests of future generations into the political decision-making process. Proxies help to consider future generations’ interests alongside the interests of current constituencies. After concept building, this comparative study searches all liberal democracies and identifies 25 proxies, with heterogeneous institutional designs. By employing membership criteria, three types are distinguished: (a) expertise-driven independent guardians (type I), (b) political or administrative advisory and coordination bodies (type II), and (c) sustainability stakeholder councils or committees (type III). They vary considerably in their formal capacity to influence political decision-making (i.e., on what legal basis they were provided with what instruments to address which phases of the policy process and which branches of government). Overall, they should not be overburdened with expectations. While they are usually equipped with the tools to voice the (construed) interests of future generations, they often lack the capacity to act as watchdogs with teeth when ignored.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7745
JournalPolitics and Governance
Volume12
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
ISSN2183-2463
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 08.03.2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Former versions of this article were presented at the ECPR General Conferences in Innsbruck (2022) and Prague (2023). I thank all panel chairs and participants, as well as the editors of this thematic issue and three anonymous reviewers, for their valuable feedback. I acknowledge support from the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the author(s), licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).

    Research areas

  • Politics - democracy, political representation
  • Sustainability Governance - all‐affected principle, future generations, institutions, intergenerational justice, sustainability governance, sustainable development

DOI

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Daniel J. Lang

Publications

  1. Mapping ecosystem services in Colombia
  2. Guest Editors' Introduction
  3. Incremental sheet forming with active medium
  4. Making mutual learning tangible
  5. Comment on “Stretching intervention can prevent muscle injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis”
  6. MICSIM: Concept, Developments, and Applications of a PC Microsimulation Model for Research and Teaching
  7. An inquiry into the digitisation of border and migration management
  8. Achieving enhanced mechanical properties in Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Mn alloy by altering dynamic recrystallization behavior via pre-ageing treatment
  9. Political discourse in the media
  10. Einführung in die systemnahe Programmierung
  11. Heterogenous activation of dynamic recrystallization and twinning during friction stir processing of a Cu-4Nb alloy
  12. Machine vision system for UAV navigation
  13. The role of supervisor support for dealing with customer verbal aggression. Differences between ethnic minority and ethnic majority workers
  14. Studienprogramm Nachhaltigkeit
  15. State of the Art of Handling and Storage Systems on Container Terminals
  16. Discourse pragmatics
  17. Baudrillard revisited
  18. Relative wage positions and quit behavior
  19. Editorial: Effects of the Introduction of the Statutory Minimum Wage in Germany
  20. Embracing scale-dependence to achieve a deeper understanding of biodiversity and its change across communities
  21. Question Answering Mediated by Visual Clues and Knowledge Graphs
  22. An Ecosystem Architecture Meta-Model for Supporting Ultra-Large Scale Digital Transformations
  23. 3D Simulation of Electric Arcing and Pressure increase in an Automotive HVDC Relay During a Short Circuit Situation
  24. Aging and Distal Effect Anticipation when Using Tools
  25. Technotopia.
  26. Magnesium recycling: State-of-the-Art developments, part II
  27. A Model Based Feedforward Regulator Improving PI Control of an Ice-Clamping Device Activated by Thermoelectric Cooler
  28. A Multilevel CFA–MTMM Approach for Multisource Feedback Instruments
  29. Structural Adaptation Triggers in the CAP
  30. Nostalgia is not what it used to be
  31. One tool to rule? – A field experimental longitudinal study on the costs and benefits of mobile device usage in public agencies
  32. Insights into creep behavior of Mg–14Gd–1Zn–0.4Zr (wt.%) alloy containing β- and γ-type precipitates