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Social complexity and the emergent state

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  • Kaveh Pourvand

Abstract

Many political philosophers assume the state can coherently reform a society's legal system to realize just, society-wide distributive outcomes. Gerald Gaus invoked social complexity to highlight the limitations of this ambition. Complexity theory holds that interdependent social interaction in large-scale societies leads to unpredictable outcomes. For Gaus, complexity constrains what the state can accomplish. The state does not know how to reform the legal system to achieve ambitious distributive goals. However, Gaus did not model the state itself as a complex system. This is the contribution of this paper. I argue that the state is not a unitary agent that comprehensively oversees the legal system. Rather, the state is a network of interaction between myriad political agents and the legal system is an emergent outcome of this interaction—the result of human action but not an overall design.

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  • Kaveh Pourvand, 2025. "Social complexity and the emergent state," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 24(2), pages 146-168, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:24:y:2025:i:2:p:146-168
    DOI: 10.1177/1470594X241264031
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lewis, Paul, 2012. "Emergent properties in the work of Friedrich Hayek," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 368-378.
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