Policy and Complex Systems
The Power of Ideas
Ideas are powerful ! Among the powerful ideas are a few upon which this discussion is focused . One just noted is that the source of authority for American independence was unalienable rights , the pursuit of which was prompted by a common concern of the 13 colonies to overcome injustices imposed upon them by the British monarch .
Another powerful idea is built upon the concept of an invisible hand . In both cases , knowledge of the processes by which the structural systems could effectively operate was primitive by today ’ s standards . Furthermore , the prevailing contemporary knowledge , while advanced compared with that of centuries ago , is still so deficient that the discontent in America is at the threshold of another major transition with the path unknown and the approach of a brink not clear as to nature or timing . However , we need to learn from the Enlightenment Era in order to improve outcomes , especially to avoid deleterious discontinuities .
This research is moving towards allowing researchers to focus their attentions on the applications related to the transitions in the American political system , the American economic system , and other contemporary American issues ( Seldin , 2016a ). We argue it is critical to build on what we learned from the Enlightenment . However , we need twenty-first century science to provide education innovation to go beyond the development of knowledge and to encode the concepts , as though we had a Periodic Table for the social sciences and to innovate in translational science to spread the education to a broad electorate .
Building on Learning from the Enlightenment Era
A Knowledgeable Electorate
Returning to the views of justice in the ancient era , and recalling the idea that democracy requires an accountability of the administration to the electorate ( in addition to the monopoly of force by the state and the rule of law ); we may ask what Plato ’ s view was . For a quote relating to the knowledgeability and the effectiveness of the electorate and the elected , we reference the ACE site , Plato ’ s Cave Unites Americans ( Seldin , 2016b ).
Plato doubted that the democratic process would work , in part because of the capacity , but in part , it was as is , interpreted by Gardner Coates ( 2016 ) and presented on pages 26 – 27 of her David ’ s Sling : A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art . ACE ’ s wiki page of Plato ’ s Cave Unites Americans notes that with the following excerpt :
“ His [ Socrates ’] followers were less accepting [ of Socrates accepting the hemlock ]” ( Plato , 2008 , The Republic VIII-555bIX . 580b ). Plato , most notably , developed a skepticism of democracy after his teacher ’ s execution . In The Republic , Plato ranks democracy near the bottom of his list of government types . He argues that blind pursuit of freedom can become a kind of slavery when the city is governed by those who know how to win elections , not those with the people ’ s best interests at heart ( Seldin , 2016a , pp . 26-27 ).
Some in the Age of Enlightenment reiterated doubts about electorate ’ s capacity . Additionally , there was obscurantism at the state level and with the professions protecting their territory . At the other end of the spectrum was Van den Eden , a Radical En-
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