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  • Cairney_Geyer_Complexity_revised_1

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  • https://doi.org/10.20377/cgn-56

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A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking?

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking? / Geyer, Robert Ralph; Cairney, Paul.
In: Complexity, Governance and Networks, Vol. 3, No. 2, 56, 01.01.2017.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Geyer, RR & Cairney, P 2017, 'A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking?', Complexity, Governance and Networks, vol. 3, no. 2, 56. https://doi.org/10.20377/cgn-56

APA

Geyer, R. R., & Cairney, P. (2017). A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking? Complexity, Governance and Networks, 3(2), Article 56. https://doi.org/10.20377/cgn-56

Vancouver

Geyer RR, Cairney P. A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking? Complexity, Governance and Networks. 2017 Jan 1;3(2):56. doi: 10.20377/cgn-56

Author

Geyer, Robert Ralph ; Cairney, Paul. / A critical discussion of complexity theory : how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking?. In: Complexity, Governance and Networks. 2017 ; Vol. 3, No. 2.

Bibtex

@article{e3d36b1827d743b4817981c8cee78f81,
title = "A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking?",
abstract = "In this article, we present a critical discussion of complexity theory. We ask: what does it really offer policy studies? We suggest that its stated advantages-- interdisciplinarity, theoretical novelty, and empirical advance--are generally exaggerated and based more on hope than experience. In that context, we identify a cautiously positive role for complexity theory, primarily as a way to bridge academic and policymaker discussions by identifying the role of pragmatic responses to complexity in policymaking.",
keywords = "complexity theory, policy, evidence based policy-making, pragmatism",
author = "Geyer, {Robert Ralph} and Paul Cairney",
note = "This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.",
year = "2017",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.20377/cgn-56",
language = "English",
volume = "3",
journal = "Complexity, Governance and Networks",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - A critical discussion of complexity theory

T2 - how does 'complexity thinking' improve our understanding of politics and policymaking?

AU - Geyer, Robert Ralph

AU - Cairney, Paul

N1 - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - In this article, we present a critical discussion of complexity theory. We ask: what does it really offer policy studies? We suggest that its stated advantages-- interdisciplinarity, theoretical novelty, and empirical advance--are generally exaggerated and based more on hope than experience. In that context, we identify a cautiously positive role for complexity theory, primarily as a way to bridge academic and policymaker discussions by identifying the role of pragmatic responses to complexity in policymaking.

AB - In this article, we present a critical discussion of complexity theory. We ask: what does it really offer policy studies? We suggest that its stated advantages-- interdisciplinarity, theoretical novelty, and empirical advance--are generally exaggerated and based more on hope than experience. In that context, we identify a cautiously positive role for complexity theory, primarily as a way to bridge academic and policymaker discussions by identifying the role of pragmatic responses to complexity in policymaking.

KW - complexity theory

KW - policy

KW - evidence based policy-making

KW - pragmatism

U2 - 10.20377/cgn-56

DO - 10.20377/cgn-56

M3 - Journal article

VL - 3

JO - Complexity, Governance and Networks

JF - Complexity, Governance and Networks

IS - 2

M1 - 56

ER -