The aim of this paper is to ask what goes wrong, normatively speaking, when particular kinds of justified hope are structurally unavailable for members of some social groups. In response, I introduce the notion of speratic injustice (from spes = lat. “hope”), a particular kind of hope-related wrong. I argue that the structural unavailability of justified hope can constitute or entrench a particular kind of powerlessness in relation to the future, both of a broader social and of a more specifically political kind. The implication is that if we are concerned about the injustice of structurally unequal power relations, we should also be concerned about the structural unavailability of justified hope. The notion of diachronic democracy emerges from this analysis as the only way to prevent or overcome speratic injustice. Diachronic democracy provides citizens with a focal point for negotiating, contesting and revising different and often conflicting visions of their common future. In so doing, it empowers citizens by putting them collectively in charge of their shared future.