Politics and democracy in Niklas Luhmann's System Theory

Contemporary societies exist at varying stages of functional differentiation. However, sociological action theories—whose roots extend back to the industrial revolution—have proven inadequate for explaining modern societies. Similarly, existing political theories aimed at legitimizing established orders/systems fall short of interpreting and explaining political structures/systems in modern societies. Niklas Luhmann's Systems Theory, which examines society as a social system and treats subsystems such as politics as functional systems, is characterized by a high degree of abstraction and conceptual richness that aligns with the functionally differentiated complex structures of modern societies. Working from the concept of autopoiesis, borrowed from biology, which assumes that systems produce themselves, Luhmann claims to have developed a universal theory. He argues that his conceptual framework can explain functional systems such as economics, law, education, religion, art, and politics, all of which he considers subsystems of society. The purpose of this study is to examine Luhmann's Systems Theory and analyze the political system as a functional systems and democracy through the concepts of Systems Theory. This study employs a synthesis of theoretical and qualitative analysis methods. In accordance with Luhmann's Systems Theory, the research utilizes second-order and third-order observations. Specifically, the study examines Luhmann's observations of society and politics in his own works, as well as other thinkers' views on Luhmann in secondary literature, to discuss how the political system and democracy can be analyzed according to Systems Theory. The research concludes that Luhmann's Systems Theory can offer new perspectives on the political system and democracy, thereby contributing to a more realistic analysis of politics and democracy.