Future-Regarding Institutions Through a Legitimacy Lens

There is a growing body of literature on future-regarding institutions in democratic systems, with most discussions focusing on their roles in the input and output phases of public governance. However, their role in the throughput phase has received less attention. This article addresses this gap by examining how these institutions operate across all three phases of public governance, focusing particularly on their contribution to its normative legitimacy. Theoretically, we contend that future-regarding institutions can enhance normative legitimacy in three interrelated dimensions: input, by representing the potential interests of future generations; throughput, by strengthening policymakers’ ex-ante accountability for policy choices with long-term consequences and by improving the transparency, inclusiveness and openness of governance processes; and output, by helping reduce harmful short-termism. To contextualize this theoretical argument, we focus on two prominent cases from different democratic jurisdictions: the Committee for the Future in Finland and the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. These cases show that such institutions actively engage across all phases of public governance. They also suggest that contributions to throughput legitimacy may complement the other two forms of legitimacy, although these institutions must carefully navigate the potential tension between improving procedural quality and enhancing effectiveness in addressing long-term policy challenges.