The Complexities of Self-Governance

Abstract

The first two Parts of this work have responded to two of Hayek’s unsettling claims concerning morality: that, given our moral evolution, we may be unfit for the Open Society; and that the Open Society is so complex as to befuddle attempts at moral justification. Each of these turned out to indeed be pressing problems, yet in both cases the resources of humans in a complex society are richer than Hayek thought. Part III turns to Hayek’s last unsettling thesis, and that which has been the focus of greatest criticism: that our complex Open Society is in many ways beyond human control and governance. This Part considers the dimensions of self-governance (control, setting the institutional framework, and solving strategic dilemmas), and considers the challenges posed by social complexity at the macro, meso, and micro levels.