Voting on Behalf of a Future Generation: A Laboratory Experiment

Abstract

This paper investigates a new voting rule wherein some people are given extra votes to serve as proxies for future generations. We predict that this voting scheme affects the voting behavior of those who do not receive an extra vote (i.e., single-ballot voters) because they are less likely to become a pivot, while proxy voters are expected to behave in support of the future generation. To test this prediction, we compare three scenarios wherein single-ballot voters would cast a vote: (a) one-voter-one-vote scenario wherein all voters cast only a single ballot; (b) a standard proxy-voting scenario wherein other voters cast two ballots, and the second vote is to cast for the benefit of a future generation; and (c) a non-proxy-voting scenario wherein other voters cast two ballots with no explanation for the second vote. The result shows that single-ballot voters are less inclined to vote for the future-oriented option in (c) than in (a). This indicates the potential drawback of the new voting scheme. However, there is no difference in the single-ballot voters’ decision between (a) and (b), indicating that the explanation of the second ballot as the proxy is important for reducing the intergenerational inequality through this voting reform.

Reconciling intergenerational conflicts with imaginary future generations: evidence from a participatory deliberation practice in a municipality in Japan

“…For example, Demeny (1986) focused on voting age, proposing a system in which people of all ages have the right to vote (i.e., Demeny voting); for all those under a certain age, a parent casts a vote by proxy. However, there are virtually no real-world examples of this kind of system in operation, and relevant studies to date are limited to dealing with experiments in laboratory settings (Kamijo et al 2015).…”

Deliberative Forms of Democracy and Intergenerational Sustainability Dilemma

“…For instance, climate change problems shall adversely affect future generations that are not born yet; however, such unborn future generations do not have any means to convey what they want to the current generation in the decision-making process. Several researchers have empirically and experimentally studied IS problems, employing some decision-making models of deliberation and/or voting [3,19,[72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82]. Gronlund et al [22] compare people's knowledge and opinions on long-run energy politics under traditional face-to-face and online deliberation, suggesting that both settings only enhance people's knowledge.…”

Does Voting Solve the Intergenerational Sustainability Dilemma?

“…If a society wants to give the interests of non-yet-existing individuals their weight too, other tools are needed." Kamijo et al [6], Miyake [7], and Kamijo et al [8] considered an extension of the idea of proxy voting to future generations by giving extra votes to a subset of members of the current generation, along with the explanation that these extra votes were to serve as proxy votes for future generations unable to participate in the current voting process. To examine the effectiveness of such a system, the authors conducted a laboratory experiment involving a one-shot game in which participants were divided into groups of three, with two of the group members assigned the role of the current generation and the remaining member taking the role of future generations.…”