This is such an exciting project! Really glad you’re doing it.
I have two questions/tentative suggestions on the scope/framing of the project:
(1) Are you considering any existing institutions? It seems like it could be useful to identify any existing institutions that seem advantageous for future generations—so that we can have a better sense of the value of preserving or expanding them, and in case they could be used as templates for new institutions.
(2) The evaluation criteria seem good. But should you add something along the lines of “How likely is this institution to gain support in the future from people with nonlongtermist interests in a way that doesn’t undermine its value, such that we wouldn’t need to provide it with as much ongoing support?” (Related to political feasibility but more forward looking—maybe can be just rolled into that criterion.)
On (1), I’m not currently considering any existing institutions, other than existing variants of the proposals mentioned. You’re right that it would be useful to know which institutions we should preserve, and there also might be other things to learn from analyzing these institutions, such as what has worked well about them and what has kept them from working better. I’ll have to consider adding these sorts of institutions.
On (2), that’s definitely of concern to me in light of the fact that so many recently-adopted future-focused institutions have not been able to survive even one election cycle. I’ve been including this (the permanence of the institution) under effectiveness, but maybe it’s worth graining the categories a bit more finely.
This is such an exciting project! Really glad you’re doing it.
I have two questions/tentative suggestions on the scope/framing of the project:
(1) Are you considering any existing institutions? It seems like it could be useful to identify any existing institutions that seem advantageous for future generations—so that we can have a better sense of the value of preserving or expanding them, and in case they could be used as templates for new institutions.
(2) The evaluation criteria seem good. But should you add something along the lines of “How likely is this institution to gain support in the future from people with nonlongtermist interests in a way that doesn’t undermine its value, such that we wouldn’t need to provide it with as much ongoing support?” (Related to political feasibility but more forward looking—maybe can be just rolled into that criterion.)
Thanks!
On (1), I’m not currently considering any existing institutions, other than existing variants of the proposals mentioned. You’re right that it would be useful to know which institutions we should preserve, and there also might be other things to learn from analyzing these institutions, such as what has worked well about them and what has kept them from working better. I’ll have to consider adding these sorts of institutions.
On (2), that’s definitely of concern to me in light of the fact that so many recently-adopted future-focused institutions have not been able to survive even one election cycle. I’ve been including this (the permanence of the institution) under effectiveness, but maybe it’s worth graining the categories a bit more finely.