Democracy, Deliberation, and Future-Oriented Collective Action

Democracies are often criticized for being short-sighted, owing in part to the dynamics of short electoral cycles and the myopic preferences of many political actors. In response to these claims, I argue that democracy can help underwrite (or make possible) future-oriented collective actions in at least three ways. First, effective deliberative practices make it possible for a society to talk to itself about what it is doing and where it wants to go. Second, democracy enables political actors to impose upon themselves specific commitments to the future. When collective decisions are self-imposed, it may become more difficult for future political actors to abandon previously agreed-upon courses of action. Third, democracy makes it possible to attribute responsibility for collective actions to both individuals and collectivities. This matters because unlike individuals, collectivities can maintain responsibility over time even as (natural and political) generations change.