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Devolution as an Opportunity to Test the Synergism Hypothesis and a Cybernetic Theory of Political Systems

Peter A. Corning, Ph.D.
Institute for the Study of Complex Systems
119 Bryant Street, Suite 212
Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA

Phone: (650) 325-5717
Fax: (650) 325-3775
Email: pacorning@complexsystems.org

Prepared for the Annual Meeting,
Association for Politics and the Life Sciences,
Boston, MA, September 3-6 1998

© SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE 19:3-26 (2002)

Some years ago it was proposed that synergistic functional effects of various kinds have been the underlying cause of the evolution of complex, goal-oriented (teleonomic) systems at all levels of biological organization. (The term "synergy" refers to combined effects produced by the interactions among various elements, parts or individuals which are not otherwise attainable.) Support for this theory has continued to mount over the past decade or so, and we will briefly review some of the evidence. An important corollary of this theory is the proposition that all teleonomic systems require cybernetic (communications and control) processes which, in human societies, are typically referred to as management systems, political systems, or governments. Indeed, cybernetic processes are found at all levels in all living systems -- in genomes, developing embryos, bacterial colonies, complex eukaryotic cells, multicellular organisms, socially-organized animal societies and, of course, complex technological civilizations. In accordance with the "Synergism Hypothesis," it is postulated that the fate of any cybernetic control process is ultimately contingent upon the underlying functional effects that the system produces; the functional synergies are the very cause of the differential "selection" of complex systems and their cybernetic "subsystems." Can this theory of "government" qua social cybernetics be tested? It is argued here that the phenomena often referred to as "devolution" provide just such an opportunity. A causal explanation of socio-political systems should be able to account not only for various "progressive" trends but also for the many cases in which "regression" or collapse occurs. Some studies related to political devolution will be discussed and a major example will be briefly described.

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