What science can do for democracy: a complexity science approach (original) (raw)
Related papers
Olssen, Mark (2015) ‘Ascertaining the Normative Implications of Complexity for Politics: Beyond Agent-Based Modeling’, in Emilian Kavalski (ed.) (2015) World Politics at the Edge of Chaos: Reflections on Complexity and Global Life. SUNY Press, New York, pp. 139 – 168., 2015
Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining to an interdisciplinary approach to nonlinear processes of change in both nature and society. Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the "hard" sciences, undergoing its formative development in the 1970s, during the last two decades it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well. Today complexity research is generating what Stuart Kauffman (2008, Preface) calls a "quiet revolution" in both the physical and social sciences. One of the earliest centers for complexity research was at Santa Fe, where researchers developed the first research program with application to politics based on agent-based modeling.
Ascertaining the Normative Implications of Complexity Thinking for Politics
2015
Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining to an interdisciplinary approach to nonlinear processes of change in both nature and society. Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the “hard” sciences, undergoing its formative development in the 1970s, during the last two decades it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well. Today complexity research is generating what Stuart Kauffman (2008, Preface) calls a “quiet revolution” in both the physical and social sciences.
Complexity, Governance & Networks, 2017
In this article, we present a critical discussion of complexity theory. We ask: what does it really offer policy studies? We suggest that its stated advantages-- interdisciplinarity, theoretical novelty, and empirical advance--are generally exaggerated and based more on hope than experience. In that context, we identify a cautiously positive role for complexity theory, primarily as a way to bridge academic and policymaker discussions by identifying the role of pragmatic responses to complexity in policymaking.
Harnessing Social Complexity at the State-Society Interface
Cohen's concept of harnessing social complexity, arguing that democracy is best understood as a naturally evolved strategy for performing a core state function, the management of social conflict in densely-populated human communities. Unlike authoritarian government types, which manage social conflict by minimizing social interaction in the system, or totalitarian types, which attempt to assert absolute control over social interaction, democracies manage social conflict by harnessing social complexity, a much more complicate strategy that requires the state to maintain a delicate balancing act between anarchy and order. This theory is compared to the conceptualizations of democracy in mainstream democratic theory, and is tested qualitatively by evaluating the theory's fit with historical and anthropological evidence of the evolutionary emergence of goverance forms over time. The author concludes with ramifications of the new conceptualization for democratic transition modeling, democratic nation-building, and the measurement and classification of democracy. Previous scholars have tried to understand contemporary liberal democracy by tracing its origins in Ancient Greece or by examining its etymological heritage. Others, notably Robert Dahl and Giovanni Sartori, have defined democracy (or, in the case of the former, polyarchy) as a governance system combining a particular power distribution with protection of civil liberties. Instead of using liberalism and power distribution as a beginning, as has nearly all foregoing democratic theory, this paper posits a conceptualization of democracy that is functional, treating democracy as a a naturally evolved specialization within a class of human governance forms to fulfill one of several core requirements of all such structures: the mitigation of social conflict in the face of widespread social interaction in relatively dense communities.
Stability of democracies: a complex systems perspective
European Journal of Physics, 2019
The idea that democracy is under threat, after being largely dormant for at least 40 years, is looming increasingly large in public discourse. Complex systems theory offers a range of powerful new tools to analyse the stability of social institutions in general, and democracy in particular. What makes a democracy stable? And which processes potentially lead to instability of a democratic system? This paper offers a complex systems perspective on this question, informed by areas of the mathematical, natural, and social sciences. We explain the meaning of the term ‘stability’ in different disciplines and discuss how laws, rules, and regulations, but also norms, conventions, and expectations are decisive for the stability of a social institution such as democracy.
Chaos and Complexity Theory in World Politics
Advances in Public Policy and Administration, 2014
Foreword "The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand fold" is a saying by Aristotle. The equivalent in today's world may well be that 'a butterfly's wings in Argentina may cause a tornado in Mexico'. Ever since humans started questioning the system they belong to, the conclusion has always been that everything has an initial reason which affects the future but does not always make it predictable. In this sense, chaos theory makes sense of a term which is not only a mathematical phenomenon but also a key word that has just started being applied to the social sciences. The potential it carries in making us understand the world of social sciences is immense. Though 'chaos' and 'complexity' have been mentioned for centuries and in different guises, they have never been as popular as in the 21st century, the age of information, technology, communication, speed, networks, conflicts, digital born and so on. The Millennium Age has seen an explosion of human capacity in terms of the sheer velocity through which we are now able to instantly reach information that was previously inaccessible but to the most savvy or technologically gifted. As a natural consequence, habits, lifestyles, beliefs and even traditions are being redefined the world over. Beginning with the first ever televised war in history, the first Gulf War, human tragedy, pain or joy can now reverberate across the world in an instant, often causing emergency world summits, humanitarian campaigns and even military interventions in the name of protecting fellow human beings. It is a long road travelled from the stability of terror that characterized the Cold War, and it has brought with it new opportunities to alleviate human suffering as well as new challenges and questions regarding the power of the mighty and its abuse in the name of high ideals. Change has therefore been introduced in a frantic pace, and the recent uprisings in the Middle East are a perfect example. When Muhammed Buazizi, a 24-year-old protester, burnt himself in Tunisia in 2010, he lit a fire in the brains of people in Arabic countries. Following that tragic incident, people, particularly the young, revolted against totalitarian governance, poor human rights, economic problems, and massive social inequity. Many of them demanded a say in the running of their countries, to be listened to and respected. Regardless of the eventual outcome of such revolts, diverse in nature and with unpredictable consequences, the recent past has shown that this was by no means an isolated phenomenon. The world over, not least in Europe and its periphery, masses of people have taken to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction with modern governance, even in those countries where parliamentary democracy and the rule of law seem well-entrenched. Often such protests have escalated into violent standoffs with state authorities, and old-style political machinations have achieved little in questing the thirst of people, and especially the young generation, for liberty, pluralism and an end to the scar of poverty and social exclusion that plagues so many of our contemporary societies. It was as if one could hear Aristotle whisper his phrase, seeking to remind us of the interconnected world in which we live.
International Public Management Journal, 2024
Complexity theory (CT) refers to a collection of concepts and heuristics that can be used to study the developments emerging from interactions between phenomena, actors, and events. CT has increasingly been utilized in the study of public administration and policy. However, there is no comprehensive analysis of empirical or other research focused on the functioning of political-administrative phenomena applying CT. This article reports the results of a systematic literature review demonstrating how CT has been applied in empirical research in different stages of the policy cycle: policy preparation, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance. The study reveals empirical research utilizing CT offers practical implications that can be categorized into four themes: enabling leadership, leveraging experimentation, the holistic perspective, and the humble approach.
Governing Complexity in World Politics
Complexity, Governance & Networks
Complexity is the new global ontology for world politics. This article summarizes the characteristics of complexity and its implications for informed US state policy making. We conclude with some suggestions about administrative reforms to improve US policy making to address global complexity.
2008
The increased visibility of complexity in the social sciences has raised questions about the ability of complexity theories to address political concerns. Many of these concerns are legitimate, particularly where complexity is portrayed as a superior naturalistic metaphysics of "life" which comes complete with a set of metaphors that can be used to legitimate certain social arrangements. In response to an article by Kevin Kelly in which complexity is portrayed in this way, Steve Best and Douglas Kellner (1999) rightly point out some of the shortcomings associated with this use of complexity and remark that this "uncritical approach to political realities and social power" is the "Achilles heel of complexity theory" (p. 155). However, while I have no problem with Best and Kellner's assessment of this genre of complexity research in the social sciences, it is important to be clear that the genre is one that many who use complexity in the social sciences are themselves critical. Nevertheless, the objection raised by Best and Kellner a decade ago is relevant in that in education there is still very little work that draws on complexity to address education's political concerns and in this regard complexity's potential to be critical in an educational context is largely overlooked. In this issue of JCACS we bring together seven papers which were initially developed for a symposium entitled Complex Criticality in Educational Research (presented in the Complexity SIG of AERA in April 2007). The symposium aimed to address the perceived lack of a "political