Abstract

In his theory of the evolution of social systems, Niklas Luhmann transposes into sociological reflection the basic insight of the biological theory of evolution: the central role of chance in the interplay of the three mechanisms of variation, selection and re-stabilization. The result is a description of the morphogenesis of social complexity, leading to the normalization of increasingly improbable forms. The article presents the assumptions and outcomes of the application of this approach to the evolution of the system of society and specifically of the subsystem of politics.