Advancing Future-Orientation in Policymaking : Institutions, Individuals and Risks / Vesa Koskimaa and Lauri Rapeli.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of illustrations -- Preface -- 1. Introduction: Seeking legitimate remedies for democratic myopia -- 1.1. Democratic myopia: causes, consequences and solutions -- 1.1.1. Causes of democratic myopia -- 1.1.2. Consequences of myopic policymaking -- 1.1.3. Solutions for democratic myopia -- 1.2. General objectives and contribution of the study -- 1.3. Analytic design and logic of inquiry -- 1.3.1. The case of Finland: a small country with big institutions and policies -- 1.3.2. Data and methods -- 1.3.3. Contents of the chapters -- 2. Analytical framework: Curbing democratic myopia with elite cooperation -- 2.1. Undressing future-regarding policies: definitions and normative considerations -- 2.2. Policies in time: conditioned by the past, inspired by the future -- 2.2.1. Past: constraints and limits but also commitment to the future -- 2.2.2. Present: focus on the future -- 2.2.3. Future: policy lock-in enhances long-term commitment but limits reactivity -- 2.3. Enhancing long-term policymaking through elite cooperation -- 3. Society and institutions: Forging capacities for more future-oriented governance -- 3.1. Foundations: the changing political system of Finland -- 3.1.1. Disarray through establishment: the birth of Finnish parties, party system and president-centered governing regime -- 3.1.2. Soothing the strife: societal modernization, political stabilization and the 'governmentalization' of the regime -- 3.1.3. Toward professionalized elite cooperation in supranational policymaking space -- 3.2. The formation of the Finnish national foresight system -- 3.2.1. Early origins: an idea of a state-bound futures organ -- 3.2.2. Taking the idea to the parliament -- 3.2.3. The emergence and consolidation of the 'future dialogue'.

3.2.4. Integrating the foresight activities of non-state actors -- 3.2.5. Organizing the intra- and inter-ministerial foresight activities -- 3.2.6. Assessing and re-structuring the foresight system for greater policy impact -- 3.3. Conclusion -- 4. Designing future-oriented policies: Institutional capacities and operational conditions -- 4.1. Introduction -- 4.2. The parliamentary sphere: activities, impact and systemic role -- 4.2.1. Basics of the CF: composition, organization, work process and main tasks -- 4.2.2. Assessing CF's survival, policy impact and recent reforms -- 4.2.3. CF's institutional impact -- 4.3. The government sphere: activities, impact and systemic role -- 4.3.1. Anticipatory governance at the PMO: seeking a more centralized leadership role -- 4.3.2. PMO's systemic role, internal division and increasing competition for 'future power' -- 4.4. The administrative sphere: the foresight activities and systemic role of government ministries -- 4.4.1. The rise of ministries to the central position in the national foresight system -- 4.4.2. Ministries' foresight activities and outputs -- 4.4.3. The systemic role of ministries' foresight activities -- 4.5. Instilling future-orientation into policymaking: general mechanisms and conditions -- 4.5.1. Anticipatory governance and policy impacts: the views of foresight actors -- 4.5.2. Strategic expertise and policymaking: insights from two policy sectors -- 4.6. Conclusion: capacities and conditions for future-oriented policymaking -- 5. The personal time orientations of policymakers -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Conceptualizing future orientation -- 5.3. Measuring political future orientation -- 5.4. Comparing general and political future orientations -- 5.5. Comparing national and local-level policymakers -- 5.6. Perceptions of future orientation in policymaking.

5.7. Drivers of future orientation in policymaking -- 5.8. Conclusions -- 6. Main findings, conclusions and discussion -- 6.1. Policymaking elites and future-regarding policymaking -- 6.2. What about the people? -- 6.2.1. Populism as a game-changer -- 6.2.2. Bringing citizens back in? -- 6.3. The future -- Data appendix -- References -- Index.

This book argues that, under certain societal and institutional conditions, party-, interest group- and bureaucracy-based elites can interact positively to extend political timeframes beyond short electoral terms and foster reasoned long-term planning for democratic decision making. Focusing on Finland within a broader analytic framework and comparative context, it unearths institutions and practices that give the elites capacity to curtail democratic short-sightedness and offer long-term solutions for contemporary threats such as economic globalization, climate change, geopolitical competition. The study also reveals factors that condition the operative capacity of future-regarding institutions. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of political science, public policy and administration, elites and management, and futures studies

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2025. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.