Complexity Theory in Political Science and Public Policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6346554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul Cairney (0000-0002-9956-832X, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 346-358 |
| Publication date | 2012-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Studies Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1478-9299 • E-ISSN: 1478-9302 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1478-9302.2012.00270.x |
| OpenAlex | W1929835063 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 128 |
| References cited | 47 |
Advocates of complexity theory describe it as a new scientific paradigm. Complexity theory identifies instability and disorder in politics and policy making, and links them to the behaviour of complex systems. It suggests that we shift our analysis from individual parts of a political system to the system as a whole; as a network of elements that interact and combine to produce systemic behaviour. This article explores the use of complexity theory in public policy, highlighting a small literature using the language of complexity directly to describe complex policy-making systems, and a larger literature identifying complexity themes. It then highlights the main problems to be overcome before complexity theory can become truly valuable in politics and policy making
Complex system · Complexity science · Economics · Management science · Policy making · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public policy · Social science · Sociology · Systems theory · Computer Science · Critical Realism in Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Public Administration · Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research · Artificial Intelligence
World Politics at the Edge of Chaos
Social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems
Climate Change
Enabling Social Policy Innovation
Entanglement
Conflict
Social Injustice
(Not a) Dedication
Health and Well-being
Transformations
Some Questions for Book-group Discussions, Essays, and Examinations
Environmental Pollution
Wicked Problems
Wicked Problems in Public Policy
Making Policy in a Complex World
The governance of smart mobility
Debate
Policymaking in an age of polycrises
Ambiguity and Cultural Policy
What determines the success or failure of policy experiments?—A qualitative field study of China's healthcare reform pilots
A system-of-systems approach to nuclear disarmament verification through the lens of Kazakhstan’s experience
Integrating health into the complex urban planning policy and decision-making context
How do policy narratives influence policy design? Examining livestock policy in Thailand
Studying complex systems through design interventions Probing open government data ecosystems in the Netherlands
Sustainability transformation calls for complexity-informed systemic policy design
Why is the transition to sustainable tourism challenging for Mediterranean coastal destinations
Missio Dei through complexity theory
Polycentric governance and policy advice
Governing Laboratory Education in the Post‐Pandemic Era
Thinking with the refrain
The Origins of Conflict in Polycentric Governance Systems
The future of impact assessment
Cultural Organizations, Networks and Mediators in Contemporary Ibero-America
Complexity Theory in sociological theorizing and metamodern culture — the contours of mutual legitimation
Introduction to the special issue
Gouverner les migrations par les hotspots en Grèce
Framing Artificial Intelligence
Unveiling the complex tapestry of China’s carbon policy
The Value of Systems Thinking for and in Regulatory Governance
Conceptualizing Climate Vulnerability in Complex Adaptive Systems
Tensions and Paradoxes of Scaling Up
Implementation of the polluter pay’s principle in tobacco control in the UK
Healthy by Design
The UK Government’s Covid-19 Policy
Can AI transform public decision-making for sustainable development? An exploration of critical earth system governance questions
The Covid‐19 policymaking under the auspices of parliamentary constitutional review
Rage against the fossil machine
Collaborative partnerships in complex institutional systems
Implementing post-normal science with or for EU policy actors
Conspiracy theories and social movements studies
Educating the developmental state
The UK government’s imaginative use of evidence to make policy
Evidence-based best practice is more political than it looks
The many faces of disability in evidence for policy and practice
Translating missio Dei
Examining Macro-Level Barriers and Facilitators to Scaling Up Integrated Care from a Complexity Perspective
Exploring the Relevance of Complexity Theory for Mixed Methods Research
International rivers as national borders
Deliberative Ecologies
Balancing stakeholder engagement in climate action
Governing wickedness in megaprojects
The Role of Institutions in Policy Design
Embracing Complexity in Policy Implementation Research
Network resilience and EU fisheries policy engagement in third countries
Dancing between money and ideas
Participation in sport as a mechanism to transform the lives of young people within the criminal justice system
Policy evaluation for a complex world
From abstract to ideal–The limits of models. A reply to Pawson’s ‘boxed in by models’
A game theory model for Israel–Hamas communications
Contracting public health and social services
Meaningful knowledge about public administration
Collapse before implementation? Personal assistance for persons with disabilities in Poland
The Scottish Parliament Election 2016
Rethinking barriers to adaptation
The Problem of Chronic Refugee Communities
Housing in a Federation
The implementation of complex social policy
Conceptualizing distributive justice in education
Strategizing actors and agents in the functioning of informal property Rights
Facing past, present, and future
Evaluating policy complexity with Causal Loop Diagrams
Why policies fail
The structure-in-evolution approach
Epistemic Governance in the Context of Crisis
Comparing Drug Policy Windows Internationally
Promoting Distributive Justice in Education and the Challenge of Unpredictability
Global Public Policy
Seeking policy solutions in a complex system
Policy fit
The new policy sciences
Wars, presidents, and punctuated equilibriums in US defense spending
The soft underbelly of complexity science adoption in policymaking
Tackling the soft non-technical challenges of the adoption of complexity science in policymaking
The grand challenge of public administration digitalization
Identifying the factors driving the uncertainty in transport infrastructure project by application of structural dynamic analysis to a backcast scenario
Complexity theory for complexity reduction? Revisiting the ontological and epistemological basis of complexity science with Critical Realism
Wicked Problems for Archaeologists
The use of urban analytics in strategic planning – A case study of the greater Sydney region plan
Social Simulation in the Social Sciences
The resistance to solar energy expansion in Italy
Agendas and Instability in American Politics, Second Edition
Political Analysis
Complexity, Institutions and Public Policy
Interpreting British Governance
Governance Stories
Understanding Public Policy
System Effects
Implementation Structures
Complexity Theory and Public Management
Historical institutionalism in comparative politics
Democratic PietyComplexity, Conflict and Violence
Democratic Piety
The New American Political System
Regenerating Unpopular Social Housing Estates
Understanding British Government
Complexity Theory and the Social Sciences
Putting European political science back together again
The Structure and Dynamics of Networks
"The Science of "Muddling Through
Political Action, Error and Failure
Can Complexity Move UK Policy beyond ‘Evidence-Based Policy Making’ and the ‘Audit Culture’? Applying a ‘Complexity Cascade’ to Education and Health Policy
Intelligent Policy Making for a Complex World
Government, Interest Groups and Policy Change
A Tale of Two Cultures
Information Processing and Policy Dynamics
Complexity, 'practical rationality' and evidence-based policy making
Iron Triangles, Woolly Corporatism and Elastic Nets
Understanding Governance
Implementation and the Governance Problem
Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics
Organizational Invention and Elite Transformation
| Unique citing works | 128 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 9,85 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 126 |