From Brexit to European renewal: the fracture of the social contract underlies the current turmoil

The European Commission’s 2017 White Paper on reform of the EU focussed on completion of the single market and firmer governance of the Euro. However, it wholly ignored inequality and social justice. Yet this is the ‘hot politics’ of European progress: the fracture of the ‘social contract’ between political leaders and the population at large. If ignored, it risks the melt-down of the whole Union, writes Graham Room

Evolution and the arts of civilisation

There have been many attempts to apply evolutionary models to social change. This article takes Darwin’s account of artificial – as well as natural – selection as its starting point. It thereby brings together human intention and learning – the arts of civilisation – and the unintended processes of change with which evolutionary models are more usually concerned. It argues that policy science should be an evolutionary science, studying endogenous processes of technological and institutional transformation; but that it must be more than this, articulating political goals and policy trade-offs and illuminating the arts of civilisation as applied to society as a whole.</jats:p

Strategic Policymaking within Complex Timescapes

The complex interactions of social life serve to structure in time the opportunities, threats, and constraints that confront different social actors. This article examines policymaking within such complex “timescapes.” It does so by reference to the policy sciences literature and the complexity literature. The former is rich in its qualitative treatment of policymaking and time but has been slow to exploit the analytical tools of the complexity literature. The latter has been slow to appreciate the complexity of timescapes and to recognise the importance of power and the struggle for positional advantage. This article develops a synthesis of the two, combining their analytical power.  It shows how this can illuminate the policy world, both conceptually and practically. It draws on Hirschman’s treatment of the “interlocking vicious circles” that hold development back and the “upward spirals” that can—when the time is right—be mobilised. It sets this within an appreciation of political economy and institutionalism.  It concludes by considering the practical tools available for policy makers to navigate complex timescapes—and how the social scientist can subject those policy decisions to stringent scrutiny.