Recursivity and contingency: To the question of governance in the digital era

Abstract

The research focuses on the question of the governance strategy of an increasingly complex social system. The complication related to the contemporary socio-political situation, which requires the participation of various stakeholders with their knowledge in the process of decision-making. Digital technologies as an ambiguous context and mediators of public communication exacerbate this issue. The author conducts research at the intersection of epistemological and socio-political contexts and implements conceptual analysis of governability and recursivity, revealed, firstly, to the problem of governing an increasingly complex system and, secondly, the conditions for its resolution. The concept of contingency supplements the concept of recursivity. The article consistently reveals the problematic nature of the concepts of governability and recursivity, the dual use of recursivity in political sciences, the ambiguity of the relationship between recursivity and contingency. The analysis of concepts allows identifying the conditions for both the involvement of additional active participants with their knowledge in governance, and their use as passive carriers of information. The author clarifies this alternative through two models of the relation of contingency and recursivity, namely, the “victory” or “defeat” of the first. As an example of how the models work, the author uses a study of citizen participation in city governance through digital platforms. She concludes that the governance strategy, taking into account the model of “victory” of contingency, provides conditions for the recognition of new active participants in decision-making processes.