Democracy and intergenerational justice

Abstract

It is taking place at a time of severe crisis, in which the hardest hit – beyond the elderly – are young people, who inevitably begin to understand the unconcerned way in which current generations have viewed future ones and, consequently, how the absence of Law has allowed this intergenerational situation to be forgotten. Today, we better understand the fact that the world’s democracies are facing a structural problem: they tend to favour the present over the future, which can lead to a collision with the imperatives of balance and intergenerational justice. We should, therefore, seek to find ways of reconciling democracy and intergenerational justice, institutionalising the interests of future generations in today’s decision-making process. We should not forget that this attempt to protect a future that is open, uncertain and insecure and to allow the formation of intergenerational ties depends on accepting uncertainties in decision-making processes, since the situation is so dynamic and changeable for many reasons that forecasts, studies and diagnoses cannot be unchanging or reliable.