Does democracy hinder long term solutions?

"our political system doesn’t deal well with gradual, long-term problems" that require "trading off up-front costs in exchange for long-term benefits."

Although Ezra Klein is talking about America he could be talking about any democratic system.

The problem is that government's have to face the electorate before the long term gains become apparent.

As Ezra continues

Few Congressmen want to raise taxes tomorrow to reduce carbon a decade from now. Lots of Congressmen don't want the economy to collapse if they have to run for reelection next year.

Ht-Mother Jones