t’s not a new conversation. Yes, our institutions are struggling to meet contemporary challenges effectively and equitably. In university classrooms, we were discussing institutional decay and trust and legitimacy twenty years ago. In those days, there was general consensus that our liberal systems were reasonably resilient and that what was wrong could be fixed. But the seeds of today’s governance crisis are evident now, from the UN’s diminished geopolitical role to governance failures leading to the 2008–2009 financial crisis.
Today the pressures have compounded, making the strain on our institutions blatant. There are two other differences. The first is the more recent phenomenon of private sector and other stakeholders getting involved in governance processes. From evacuation operations in Afghanistan to climate initiatives, non–government stakeholders have been filling governance gaps in increasingly visible ways.
The second difference is the capabilities (and hard–to–process innovation rates) of emerging technologies. This dynamic creates new pressures on governance processes as institutions learn how to govern and use them. It also gives exponentially greater capability to non–state stakeholders looking to become more involved in governance.
Including more actors in governance makes it by nature more inclusive. But who is included or excluded—and how, why, and from what—are questions we can’t yet answer. The way the answers play out will inform how this future of hybrid governance looks.
Done poorly, we face an era of “chimera governance,” with an amalgamation of actors exercising governance power over a given thing—but without effective communication and coordination so the pieces of governance don’t quite fit. In the worst cases this goes beyond inefficiency to contradictory governance—and all the chaos that could entail.
Done right, we can usher in an era of transparency, accountability, and stakeholder access which could truly help the future arrive well.
To think about the future of hybrid governance, Diplomatic Courier asked its network of World in 2050 experts to reflect where we’re headed and what it means. At a time every global convening hosts main stage conversations involving this evolution of governance, discussing what we want out of hybrid governance and how to get there is timely indeed.
We are excited to share this digital anthology on the future of governance, full of insights from our network! We hope you find it useful.
You can access the entire anthology, free, here.
As ever, thank you for reading!
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For better or worse, the future of governance is hybrid
Photo by Chris Hardy on Unsplash
July 30, 2025
The way we govern is evolving under modern pressures and becoming more hybrid. For better or for worse, that’s a trend that will continue—and which could usher in a more inclusive future, or a future of dysfunctional chimera governance, writes Shane Szarkowski.
I
t’s not a new conversation. Yes, our institutions are struggling to meet contemporary challenges effectively and equitably. In university classrooms, we were discussing institutional decay and trust and legitimacy twenty years ago. In those days, there was general consensus that our liberal systems were reasonably resilient and that what was wrong could be fixed. But the seeds of today’s governance crisis are evident now, from the UN’s diminished geopolitical role to governance failures leading to the 2008–2009 financial crisis.
Today the pressures have compounded, making the strain on our institutions blatant. There are two other differences. The first is the more recent phenomenon of private sector and other stakeholders getting involved in governance processes. From evacuation operations in Afghanistan to climate initiatives, non–government stakeholders have been filling governance gaps in increasingly visible ways.
The second difference is the capabilities (and hard–to–process innovation rates) of emerging technologies. This dynamic creates new pressures on governance processes as institutions learn how to govern and use them. It also gives exponentially greater capability to non–state stakeholders looking to become more involved in governance.
Including more actors in governance makes it by nature more inclusive. But who is included or excluded—and how, why, and from what—are questions we can’t yet answer. The way the answers play out will inform how this future of hybrid governance looks.
Done poorly, we face an era of “chimera governance,” with an amalgamation of actors exercising governance power over a given thing—but without effective communication and coordination so the pieces of governance don’t quite fit. In the worst cases this goes beyond inefficiency to contradictory governance—and all the chaos that could entail.
Done right, we can usher in an era of transparency, accountability, and stakeholder access which could truly help the future arrive well.
To think about the future of hybrid governance, Diplomatic Courier asked its network of World in 2050 experts to reflect where we’re headed and what it means. At a time every global convening hosts main stage conversations involving this evolution of governance, discussing what we want out of hybrid governance and how to get there is timely indeed.
We are excited to share this digital anthology on the future of governance, full of insights from our network! We hope you find it useful.
You can access the entire anthology, free, here.
As ever, thank you for reading!
