Protecting future generations through submajority rule

Kristian Skagen Ekeli

Protecting future generations through submajority rule

In: Ethics and the politics of food

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Kristian Skagen Ekeli

Kristian Skagen Ekeli Department of Philosophy, NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway, ekeli@hf.ntnu.no

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 109–113

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3920/9789086865758_017

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Democratic decisions not only affect present people, but also near and distant future generations. Despite the fact that voters and their elected representatives have the power to make decisions that can have a serious impact on the living conditions of future people, succeeding generations do not have the opportunity to influence present political decision-making processes. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to propose and consider two new constitutional devices, the aim of which is to give minorities of legislators a political tool to represent and protect the interests of future generations. The common denominator of the proposed reforms is that they represent examples of submajority rules that grant defined minorities of legislators certain procedural rights. The first device empowers a minority of at least 1/3 of the legislators to demand that the final enactment of a law proposal should be delayed until a new election has been held, if they believe that the law in question can inflict serious harm upon posterity. The second implies that a minority of at least 1/3 of the legislature can require a referendum on a bill that can have a serious adverse impact on the living conditions of future people. I will argue that these submajority rules can serve as useful means to encourage more future-oriented public deliberations and decisions. Although the proposals face some important problems, it is argued that they can be defended on the basis of central ideals in recent theory of deliberative democracy.

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Ethics and the politics of food

Preprints of the 6th Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics

E-Book ISBN:: 9789086865758

Publisher:: Wageningen Academic

Print Publication Date:: 10 Oct 2006

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- Life Sciences

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Protecting future generations through submajority rule

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Ethics and the politics of food

Preprints of the 6th Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics

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