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8 - Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

By
Terence Ball
Edited by
Andrew Dobson  and
Robyn Eckersley
Terence Ball
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Arizona State University
Andrew Dobson
Affiliation:
The Open University, Milton Keynes
Robyn Eckersley
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
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Summary

Several years ago I participated in a round table discussion on ‘Our Responsibilities Toward Future Generations’ at a small liberal arts college in the American midwest. One of my fellow discussants was a theologian, the other a state legislator. Despite our differences, we all agreed that we do not pay sufficient heed to the health and wellbeing of our distant descendants and that this represents a kind of moral myopia that calls for correction. Sometime during the discussion I turned to the state legislator – a thoughtful and sensitive man of enlightened outlook – and asked him point-blank why our elected representatives don't pay much (if any) attention to the fate of future people, and still less to that of non-human creatures. ‘Because they don't vote’, was his prompt reply. (He might have added that future people and animals don't contribute money to political campaigns either.)

That, in a nutshell, sums up one of the chief shortcomings of democracy, at least from an environmental or green perspective. I should perhaps qualify this by saying that I am talking about democracy as presently understood.

Type
Chapter
Information
Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge , pp. 131 - 147
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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References

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  • Democracy
    • By Terence Ball, Department of Political Science, Arizona State University
  • Edited by Andrew Dobson, The Open University, Milton Keynes, Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511617805.009
Available formats
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  • Democracy
    • By Terence Ball, Department of Political Science, Arizona State University
  • Edited by Andrew Dobson, The Open University, Milton Keynes, Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511617805.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Democracy
    • By Terence Ball, Department of Political Science, Arizona State University
  • Edited by Andrew Dobson, The Open University, Milton Keynes, Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511617805.009
Available formats
×