ABSTRACT
This chapter pursues two goals. The first goal is to give a general overview of the discourse surrounding the notion of polycentricity and polycentric institutions (Section 8.1). The second goal of the chapter is to illuminate the epistemic productivity of well-regulated polycentric systems and to make the case that ‘polycentric search’ outperforms ‘expert deliberation’ with regard to hard problems. The argument proceeds in two steps. In a first step, it is argued that the two epistemically most productive institutions – ‘the market’ and ‘organized science’ – can legitimately be viewed as instances of polycentrism. Furthermore, the chapter presents and explanation of why polycentric systems epistemically outperform ‘expert deliberation.’ The argument is put forward that ‘polycentric search’ outperforms expert deliberation, because it is able to neutralize the inhibitors of collective deliberation outlined in Chapter 7 and thus is capable of taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity.
