Anticipatory Approaches in Political Science: Anticipatory Approaches on Governance, Democracy and Public Values

What is the main trend in research on political anticipation? The history of the research in anticipation concerning essential areas of political science like governance and democracy has witnessed in a short time a major shift in paradigm from traditional cybernetics background to strategic foresight, and aspirational futures. This change has been gradually enhanced by the technological innovation in information processing theories, and data analysis methodologies, and later by the advanced technologies of the artificial, the development of social networks, and the theoretical and methodological shift to complexity theory and complex systems. Moreover, the area of Future Studies has dramatically influenced the political anticipation research by new conceptual approaches based on (strategic) foresight, preferable futures, and human’s capacity for vision and creative thinking. It is the very idea of ‘complexity’ which has decisively influenced the approach on political anticipation: society and polity, governance and information, technological advances and know-how requirements have all been viewed from the perspective of complex systems. This change is best described in terms of the anticipatory concepts involving ‘adaptivity’ of communities to complex political and security contexts and environments, and ‘emergence’ of new social political structure and order. New research approaches are introduced as the society becomes more and more aware and interested in “studying the future for taking action now” (OSIP-OECD). From theoretical and methodological perspectives, panels and paper proposals of interest are in the following areas, but not limited to these: (i) anticipatory democracy, (ii) anticipatory governance, and (iii) anticipatory systems. Panel Area on Anticipatory Democracy Panel #1: Anticipatory Democracy Panel #2: Anticipatory Studies of Political Participation Panel #3: Digitalization and Anticipatory Studies of People Empowerment Anticipatory Democracy has been considered an area able to provide the proper answer to multiple and complex inquiries on the future of democracy, peace, and human rights in the world context. Anticipatory Democracy is viewed as deeply connected to the deep transformation of societies and the new advanced technologies which empower people for political participation. The main questions to be answered concern the conceptual and methodological approach on anticipatory democracy programs aimed at achieving public values, like equity, solidarity, and sustainability, as well as secure people commitment to policies on tolerance and inclusion. Our section welcomes panels and paper proposals which address complex issues like the debate on representative vs. consensual democratic processes, organizational transformation at both structural, processes and cultural levels, public policy and public values, scenario development and environmental assessment. A good subject of debate on preferable futures concerns the comparative analysis of how industrial age has provided support to people preference for urban life and environments, while the advanced technologies of the artificial and their capabilities of replacing human work and free the human mind to enjoy more its creativity are making people in highly advanced and technologized societies to appreciate again the rural settings, values, and natural environments and resources. Panel Area on Anticipatory Governance Panel #4: Anticipatory Governance Panel #5: Anticipatory Innovative Governance of Water Resources in Europe Panel #6: Anticipatory Innovative Governance of Energy Resources in Europe Anticipatory Innovative Governance reveals its concept and principles, methods, and instruments, thus answering the necessity to inform and educate people in order to be able to study the future for taking the action in the present. Panel and paper proposals on presenting such cases are especially interesting. The section highly appreciates the panel and paper proposals which provide anticipatory approaches to the policies and management of shared national and transnational resources like water, energy, and gas (experimental governance projects) as well as anticipatory innovative governance and the innovative portfolios in public sector innovation policies. Panel Area on Anticipatory Systems and Research Methodologies Panel #7: Anticipatory Systems with Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Methodologies Panel #8: Anticipatory Systems with Agent-based Modelling and Simulation Methodologies Anticipatory systems are defined as system with reflexive capabilities which can anticipate their own future states and employ this kind of knowledge in their current action decision-making. The capabilities of both animal behaviour and of the human mind to anticipate future states, and the need to employ the future in the design of societal and political processes and systems has inspired the studies on anticipatory systems. Luhmann’s early theoretical approaches on the social and political systems’ capacity of meaning generation and communication have provided a good background for the development of anticipatory system research (Luhmann, 1995, 2012). This research area has however found inspiration in other theories, like the biological living systems (Maturana and Varela, 1973) and has been essentially shaped by the theoretical contribution of Robert Rosen (1985). Mathematical (Louie, 2017; Dubois, 1998)) as well as philosophical (Poli, 2010), sociological and computational contributions (Leydersdorff and Dubois, 2004; Leydesdorff, 2003, 2021) have provided further support to the area of anticipatory systems. In political research, the anticipatory systems have been employed for explaining polity generative models and the role of political cultures in the emergence of political complexity of organization (Voinea, 2021a, 2021b, 2021c).