Editing Voter suppression (section)

=== Path dependence/tyranny of the past ===
The lack of [[intergenerational equity]] in policy undermines the ability of voters to pursue [[self-determination]] through their democratic processes. For example, the lifetime appointments of judges, or constitutions that are so difficult to change that they do not reflect the values of current voters, show how power allocated in the past can thwart voter power in the present. This kind of lock-in is only helpful if the present is less democratic than the past, which can become a self-fulfilling prophecy by simultaneously hampering the democratic innovations and evolutions that could prevent those threats by bolstering ancient architecture with the latest best-practices. Past actions can also create other kinds of [[path dependence]], where power to shape democratic institutions can be slowed down or subverted by decisions made by those who wielded power in the past, regardless of how fairly (democratically) those setting the rules came to power and regardless of the values held by or information available to voters in the present. A relatively tangible example could be a country allowing itself to run up a large [[Government debt|national debt]] that present-day voters did not consent to, shrinking discretionary spending to a fraction of what previous voters were able to spend.