NEW from Edward Elgar Publishing
Complexity, Institutions
and Public Policy
Agile Decision-making in a Turbulent World
Graham Room, University of Bath, UK
‘I was excited by the book and the light it threw on many current policy
issues. I was immensely impressed by the sheer scope and bravado of
what I read. It attempts to integrate complexity science with evolutionary
theory and institutionalism. It engages with post-Darwinian theory but
superimposes on this an equal concern with power and politics. The
book is ambitious and complex but surprisingly lucid and well written.
This is a work at last taking the analysis of policy making a big step forward.’
– Ian Gough, London School of Economics, UK
‘Theoretical work on complex phenomena is beginning to have a major impact on several disciplines.
Graham Room gives a clear summary of many of these insights and shows how this work can help guide
public policy.’
– Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire, UK
‘This is a very important book. Graham Room gives a very detailed, accurate and accessible review
of complexity theory as it applies to social policy. It will be of interest to academics who really want to
understand the implications of complexity theory for policy making in complex and fast-changing situations
and to those undertaking advanced courses in politics, economics and sociology.’
– Jean Boulton, Cranfield University, UK
Graham Room argues that conventional approaches to the conceptualisation and measurement of social
and economic change are unsatisfactory. As a result, researchers are ill-equipped to offer policy advice. This
book offers a new analytical approach, combining complexity science and institutionalism. It also provides
tools for policy makers in turbulent times.
Part 1 is concerned with the conceptualisation of socio-economic change. It integrates complexity science
and institutionalism into a coherent ontology of social and policy dynamics.
Part 2 is concerned with models and measurement. It combines some of the principal approaches
developed in complexity analysis with models and methods drawn from mainstream social and political
science.
Part 3 offers empirical applications to public policy: the dynamics of social exclusion; the social dimension
of knowledge economies; the current financial and economic crisis. These are supplemented by a toolkit for
the practice of ‘agile policy making’.
This is a stimulating, provocative and highly original book. It will appeal to academics and students in social
and policy studies and to a wide range of scholars in other disciplines where complexity science is already
well-developed. It will also be of major interest for decision makers coping with complex and turbulent policy
terrains.
Contents: 1. Introduction Part I: Concepts 2. The Complexity Paradigm 3. Complex Adaptive Systems 4. The Economy as a Complex Adaptive
System 5. Institutional Settings and Architectures 6. Institutional Dynamics 7. The Struggle for Positional Advantage 8. Conceptualising Social
Dynamics Part II: Methods 9. Attractors and Orbits in Dynamic Systems 10. Patterns in Space and Time 11. Connections and Networks
12. Mobility on Social Landscapes 13. Towards a Generic Methodology Part III: Policies 14. Agile Policy Making 15. Poverty and Social
Exclusion 16. Social Dynamics of the Knowledge Economy 17. Global Turbulence and Crisis Postscript: Tools for Policy Makers
July 2011 c 400 pp Hardback 978 0 85793 263 1 • eBook 978 0 85793 264 8
e
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