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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Nicola Mulkeen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
Democratic systems are failing younger and future generations. As ageing populations dominate electorates, the long-term interests of younger and future citizens are increasingly marginalised in favour of short-term priorities. This creates serious risks, particularly in climate policy, where younger and future generations face irreversible harm and injustice. These failures expose a deep tension between democratic principles of political equality and the demands of intergenerational justice. This paper proposes a two-part strategy to help relieve this tension. First, it defends targeted age-weighted referendums, giving younger voters greater influence on policies that pose significant and potentially irreversible risks of intergenerational harm or injustice, including those with long-term environmental, economic, health, or social consequences. Second, it advocates for independent intergenerational commissions to review and amend such policies. Together, these reforms strengthen democratic legitimacy by ensuring those most deeply affected by long-term decisions have a meaningful voice in shaping them. Justified on both democratic and justice-based grounds, this paper offers a principled response to intergenerational harm and injustice in ageing democracies.
Author(s): Mulkeen N
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy
Year: 2025
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 30/07/2025
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Date deposited: 29/01/2026
ISSN (print): 1369-8230
ISSN (electronic): 1743-8772
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2025.2541158
DOI: 10.1080/13698230.2025.2541158
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