Read more
Why are democratic systems seemingly unable to deal with long-term issues such as climate change, environmental pollution, and budget deficits? Is democracy itself a part of the problem? Voters are usually focused on their short-term needs, and politicians are motivated to win the next election instead of finding solutions to long-term problems. Some scholars and pundits have wondered whether we will need political systems that are less democratic, or even authoritarian, if we are going to solve long-term problems.
Future Publics rejects the idea that having less democracy is going to get us the futures that we think we might want. Despite the short-term dynamics associated with electoral democracy, Michael K. MacKenzie asserts that we need more inclusive and deliberative democracies if we are going to make shared futures that will work for us all.
List of contents
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- PART I: CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND
- Chapter 1 - Introduction: The Democratic Myopia Thesis
- Chapter 2 - Future-Making: Politics, Democracy, and Deliberation
- Chapter 3 - Moving Beyond Theories of Intergenerational Justice
- PART II: A DELIBERATIVE THEORY OF FUTURE-REGARDING COLLECTIVE ACTION
- Chapter 4 - Deliberative Responses to the Democratic Myopic Problem
- Chapter 5 - Getting to the Future: Inclusion, Deliberation, and Future-Regarding Collective Action
- Chapter 6 - Acting Through Time: Coordinating the Actions of Current and Future Publics
- PART III: INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN
- Chapter 7 - Future-Regarding Democratic Institutions
- Chapter 8 - Conclusion: Unresolved Themes
- References
About the author
Michael K. MacKenzie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Summary
Scholars have often claimed that democracies, whatever their virtues, are functionally short-sighted. The evidence is clear: we have been unable to manage many long-term issues including climate change, nuclear waste disposal, natural disaster preparedness, infrastructure maintenance, and budget deficits. If voters and influential actors, such as interest groups and corporations, have dominant short-term interests, it may be difficult for elected politicians to act in the long-term interests of society, even if they think that it would be the right thing to do. To solve long-term problems, do we need political systems that are less democratic, or even authoritarian?
This idea, which Michael K. MacKenzie calls the "democratic myopia thesis," is a sort of conventional wisdom; it is an idea that scholars and pundits take for granted as a truth about democracy without subjecting it to adequate critical scrutiny. In Future Publics, MacKenzie challenges this conventional wisdom and articulates a deliberative, democratic theory of future-regarding collective action. Specifically, MacKenzie argues that each part of the democratic myopia problem can be addressed through democratic--rather than authoritarian--means. At a more fundamental level, once we recognize that democratic practices are world-making activities that empower us to make our shared worlds together, they should also be understood as future-making activities. Despite the short-term dynamics associated with electoral democracy, MacKenzie asserts that we need more inclusive and deliberative democracies if we are going to make shared futures that will work for us all.
Additional text
Michael MacKenzie shows effectively how inclusive deliberation can render political systems more capable of giving due weight to the long term and proceeds in compelling fashion to supply institutional correctives lenses for the myopia that currently plagues democratic systems. Future Publics should be recognized as the definitive treatment of this crucial topic in democratic theory and practice.
