Speaking for the voiceless? The political representation of future generations

Because decision-making increasingly takes place in an intergenerational time horizon, democratic governance increasingly has to take into account the long-term concerns of future generations. However, herein lies a fundamental paradox: those whose interests are most in need of being represented, because they will carry the long-term burden of current decisions or non-decisions, are not yet present and are unable to make their interests heard. In response, several scholars have advocated institutional innovations, such as parliamentary committees for the future, that introduce the interests of posterity at the heart of representative democracy. All of these innovations assume, however, that special, designated representatives for future generations are needed, and that ‘regular’, non-designated representatives are not up to the task of acting on their behalf. In this paper, we investigate whether this claim holds, by analyzing to what extent, how and which members of parliament make representative claims on behalf of future generations in parliament. Based on an exploratory claim-making analysis of parliamentary documents in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, we argue that today’s elected legislators indeed make representative claims on behalf of future generations, but that the number of claims made depends on the electoral cycle, with fewer claims being made in election years, and on the issue under discussion. Moreover, those claiming to act on behalf of future generations are more often members of ecologist and Christian Democratic parties, and more often hold prominent positions in parliament. Finally, we find that the claims generally remain at a vague and general level, with very few claims actually receiving extensive justification.