Journal on Policy and Complex Systems • Volume 4 , Number 1 • Spring 2018
Editor ’ s Letter
This issue of the Journal on Policy and Complex Systems ( JPCS ) is devoted
to the study of business / economy and international relations as complex adaptive systems .
The paper by Neto and Garcia , “ Long Memory Properties and Complex Systems : An Interesting Connection ,” addresses an interesting issue of relationship between long memory and complex systems in the context of business conditions that commonly occur in a wide set of time series found in economic / financial problems . They show that “ heterogeneity among agents , local interactions , and spatial complexity plays a major role in the rise of long memory features .”
Alex Coad in the “ Heed the Weakest Link : A Model of Interdependent Institutions ” paper presents “ a simple multiplicative model of economic development , according to which the level of economic development is expressed in terms of the level of development of a large number of interdependent institutions , where the weakest link in the chain of multiplicative terms determines the overall performance .” This finding is then used for suggesting concrete ways for economic system improvement .
“ A Complexity Case Study : The implementation of an Interministerial Policy — A View from Within Government ” by Pernelle Smits , Marie – Christine Therrien , Nassera Touati , and Jean-Louis Denis illustrates mobilizing complexity metatheory to analyze the Health in All Policies in Quebec HiAP . The case study shows how a complementary understanding of HiAP , from within the administrative process , can support proposed measures on early processes rather than later results . The case study identifies the dynamics within public administrations that support and limit the establishment of a specific agenda into sectors , as well as unlocking strategies to move beyond established agenda dynamics .
“ How Stable Is Democracy ? Suggestions from Artificial Social Networks ,” is a paper by Grim , Liu , Bathina , Liu , and Gordon in which they analyze the degree to which the structure of communication networks is “ democratic .” They find that networks are less democratic if “( a ) communication is more limited in terms of characteristic degree and ( b ) is more tightly channeled to a few specific nodes .” Together , these measures provide a two-dimensional framework for evaluating democratic networks .
Cesaer Scartozzi in “ A New Taxonomy for International Relations : Rethinking the International System as a Complex Adaptive System ,” introduces the concept of the international system as “ a complex adaptive system with emergent properties and dynamics of self-organization and information processing .” The goal of this project is to “ formalize a complex systems theory approach to the study of international affairs and introduce a new taxonomy for international relations ,
3 doi : 10.18278 / jpcs . 4.1.1