The Emergence of Complexity in the Art and Science of Governance

Abstract

We argue that the complexity of an interconnected society and its governance require a complexity-informed approach to our domain. Concepts and theories from the complexity sciences can help with this. There is a notable increase of the use of such concepts and theories but the theory transfer isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. “Emergence” is helpful in understanding the particular differences between the various realms of science. Within the social sciences in general and public administration in particular, emergence highlights the non-decomposable, contingent, non-compressible and time-asymmetric nature of reality. Subsequently, we propose three methods that take these aspects into account when putting concepts from the complexity sciences to the test: qualitative comparative analysis, dynamic network analysis, and group model building.