- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- List of Contributors
- 1 Designing Institutions for Future Generations
- 2 Institutional Design and Sources of Short-Termism
- 3 Intergenerational Justice
- 4 Measuring Intergenerational Fairness
- 5 Can we Represent Future Generations?
- 6 Generational Sovereignty
- 7 An Ombudsman for Future Generations
- 8 Political Institutions for the Future
- 9 A World Climate Bank
- 10 Constitutionalizing Intergenerational Provisions
- 11 Democratic Trusteeship
- 12 A Common Heritage Fund for Future Generations
- 13 Electoral Design, Sub-Majority Rules, and Representation for Future Generations
- 14 Philanthropy and Intergenerational Justice
- 15 The Deliberative Democratic Inclusion of Future Generations
- 16 Youth Quotas, Diversity, and Long-Termism
- 17 A General-Purpose, Randomly Selected Chamber
- 18 Piloting Responsibility and Intergenerational Justice
- 19 The People’s Endowment
- 20 Democratic Firms
- 21 Archiving for the Future
- 22 Alumni Involvement and Long-Termist University Governance
- 23 Pension Funds, Future Generations, and Fiduciary Duty
- 24 Family Planning is Not (Necessarily) the Priority Institution for Reducing Fertility
- Index
An Ombudsman for Future Generations
An Ombudsman for Future Generations
Legitimate and Effective?
- Chapter:
- (p.117) 7 An Ombudsman for Future Generations
- Source:
- Institutions For Future Generations
- Author(s):
Ludvig Beckman
Fredrik Uggla
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter examines the possibility to establish ombudsmen as instruments for the protection of the interests of future generations. We argue that such an institution would be advantageous on grounds of feasibility and democratic legitimacy. As an ombudsman does not have the power to sanction or compel, such an institution would be both more acceptable to parliaments and governments and more consistent with various conceptions of democratic legitimacy. However, this does not mean that the institution would be inconsequential. Drawing on examples of ombudsmen in other contexts, we argue that such institutions can in some cases make a political difference despite its lack of powers to sanction or compel. In sum, we argue that an ombudsman for future generations could turn out to be a solution that is feasible, democratically acceptable, and potentially effective.
Keywords: ombudsman for future generations, ombudsman, democratic legitimacy, constitutionalism, feasibility, effectiveness
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- List of Contributors
- 1 Designing Institutions for Future Generations
- 2 Institutional Design and Sources of Short-Termism
- 3 Intergenerational Justice
- 4 Measuring Intergenerational Fairness
- 5 Can we Represent Future Generations?
- 6 Generational Sovereignty
- 7 An Ombudsman for Future Generations
- 8 Political Institutions for the Future
- 9 A World Climate Bank
- 10 Constitutionalizing Intergenerational Provisions
- 11 Democratic Trusteeship
- 12 A Common Heritage Fund for Future Generations
- 13 Electoral Design, Sub-Majority Rules, and Representation for Future Generations
- 14 Philanthropy and Intergenerational Justice
- 15 The Deliberative Democratic Inclusion of Future Generations
- 16 Youth Quotas, Diversity, and Long-Termism
- 17 A General-Purpose, Randomly Selected Chamber
- 18 Piloting Responsibility and Intergenerational Justice
- 19 The People’s Endowment
- 20 Democratic Firms
- 21 Archiving for the Future
- 22 Alumni Involvement and Long-Termist University Governance
- 23 Pension Funds, Future Generations, and Fiduciary Duty
- 24 Family Planning is Not (Necessarily) the Priority Institution for Reducing Fertility
- Index