Governing for the Long Term

This book examines how democratic governments manage long-term policy challenges. The book seeks to understand how elected officials make trade-offs between the present and the future as they confront such challenges. Why do governments sometimes choose to impose costs on their constituents today to invest in solutions to long-term problems, but at other times leave future problems for their successors to address? To answer this question, the book develops a theory of "intertemporal...
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This book examines how democratic governments manage long-term policy challenges. The book seeks to understand how elected officials make trade-offs between the present and the future as they confront such challenges. Why do governments sometimes choose to impose costs on their constituents today to invest in solutions to long-term problems, but at other times leave future problems for their successors to address? To answer this question, the book develops a theory of "intertemporal policy choice," then analyzes how governments in four countries have managed long-term challenges to their pension systems.