Exploring the Politics of Long-Termism (Dutch Research Council)

Long-term challenges such as climate change and the ageing population are becoming increasingly urgent to address. Yet, thinking long-term is one of the most difficult tasks citizens and policy-makers face, as they deal with uncertainties, risks, and electoral constraints in a world driven by political myopia. Crucially, our understanding of political long-termism, namely the conscious choice to prioritise the future consequences of today’s political actions and decisions over their short-term benefits, remains limited. This project funded by the Dutch Research Council aims at understanding how and why politicians and citizens favour political long-termism, and explores whether different ‘cultures’ of political long-termism coexist across Europe.