Buy at your local bookstore, or order on Amazon or with McGill-Queen’s Press!
Read an excerpt at the Walrus, listen to me talk about it on the New Books Network Public Policy Channel, or watch me give an invited talk at the Canada School of Public of Public Service.
In the decades preceding COVID-19 there were nine pandemics or near-pandemics, from SARS to Ebola. Despite this turbulent recent history, many governments were unprepared for the recent pandemic and remain ill-equipped for the next.
Our impact on future generations has never been greater, and the challenges we face will increasingly play out over the long term. Climate change is accelerating, antibiotic resistance is rising, underground aquifers are depleting, natural disasters catch us off guard, fish stocks are dwindling, and automation and population aging may transform our economies. Drawing on insights from behavioural science, Future-Generation Government offers a fresh perspective on short-termism and proposes clear, practical reforms that can help leaders respond to tomorrow’s challenges without compromising today’s democratic rights and freedoms.
People value the present over the future, research shows, so governments balance the scales by rewarding future-planning behaviours: granting tax deductions for retirement savings or supporting educational savings, for example. Future-Generation Government explains how individuals, in turn, should reward our governments for making durable policy decisions that anticipate future crises.
Featured in Quill & Quire’s 2025 Spring Preview for Nonfiction!
Reviews
“Chesterley wrestles directly and engagingly with the gnawing question of how to square human short-termism with the long-term problems we face. Given that our lives and those of our children depend on the answer, this is a book we should all read.” David Halpern, Founder and President Emeritus of the Behavioural Insights Team and author of Inside the Nudge Unit: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference
“An engaging, carefully crafted, and convincing book. Chesterley uses storytelling to illustrate his rich arguments, showing how the tools of behavioural science, such as ‘nudging’ strategies, could be better used in contexts of power and politics to help make our governments more future-regarding.” Professor Michael K. MacKenzie, author of Future Publics: Democracy, Deliberation, and Future-Regarding Collective Action
“Future-Generation Government compellingly outlines the negative impact and future risk posed by short-term thinking while offering some persuasive ideas for tackling long-term social and political challenges. Chesterley’s argument is novel and informed by a keen understanding of organizational and individual behaviour. Highly recommended!” Sasha Tregebov, Director of Behavioural Insights Team Canada
“incredibly timely, necessary, and fundamental…” – Midwest Book Review
“[A]n optimistic take on how the lessons of cognitive science can be harnessed to move the future out of the background and into the foreground…Highly recommended.” Choice Magazine
“Chesterley’s book offers fresh insights from behavioral economics to the problem of long-term policymaking…an enjoyable read” Book Review, Global Public Policy and Governance