What Would a Non-linear Theory of Democracy Look Like?
The move to nonlinearity is broader than the long-running argument between system-based and unit-based theorists. Waltz, for instance, advocated that international politics should be treated on system-wide bases.19 He assumed that causes and effects could be linked and future events could be predicted accurately as long as enough data is collected and the system is taken as a whole. That would not work in the case of nonlinear dynamic systems in which some global patterns are predictable but useful interventions are restricted to enabling interactions to proceed in a manner that produces self-organised stable patterns rather than chaos. In this instance local freedom of action, learning, and access to information are vitally important, as control is limited to observation of outputs and ‘encouragement’ for the system to evolve towards desirable ends. Management of dynamic adaptive systems is, therefore, a reiterative process that relies on slow, and uncertain, progression. Command-and-
