heterarchy, form of management or rule in which any unit can govern or be governed by others, depending on circumstances, and, hence, no one unit dominates the rest. Authority within a heterarchy is distributed. A heterarchy possesses a flexible structure made up of interdependent units, and the relationships between those units are characterized by multiple intricate linkages that create circular paths rather than hierarchical ones. Heterarchies are best described as networks of actors—each of which may be made up of one or more hierarchies—that are variously ranked according to different metrics. Etymologically speaking, the term is made up of the Greek words heteros, meaning “the other,” and archein, meaning “to rule.”
The earliest academic discussion of the concept of heterarchy is attributed to American psychiatrist and neurophysiologist Warren S. McCulloch, a pioneer in cybernetics, who in the mid-1940s regarded a neural network that propagated in a circle as an archetype of heterarchy. The value of the concept was rediscovered decades later by social scientists in disciplines as diverse as archaeology, management, sociology, political science, and law.
American philosopher James A. Ogilvy presented one of the simplest illustrations of heterarchy in the mid-1980s as a game of rock paper scissors—in which rock beats scissors, which beats paper, which in turn beats rock. A similar circular logic, though far more complex and dynamic, can apply to the checks and balances among three branches of a government as well as to the relationship between sovereign states and international institutions such as the European Union (EU) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
At their core, heterarchical networks are considered both flexible and dynamic; authorities therein are not institutionally fixed but rather change places as situations evolve. Swedish politician Gunnar Hedlund remarked in 1986 that nested hierarchies and even markets could be observed in some multinational corporations. In such organizations, heterarchy could be conceived as a metagovernance mechanism of flexible coordination among transactions organized by different actors. In The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life (2009), American sociologist David Stark observed that a heterarchy’s linkages between one unit and another—usually across such conventional divides as levels, departments, and sectors—form a multicentric network of heterogeneous actors with distinctive resources and capabilities. That structure, he argued, makes an organization more productive and gives it the ability to adapt to rapid changes.
Heterarchy is emerging as an important concept with respect to globalization and national and international governance. Heterarchies have existed in the past, such as within parts of the Mayan civilization in Central America, and some international-relations experts argue that the world political order is moving toward a heterarchical structure rather than a hierarchical one, since some present-day global issues require organizations of actors that cut across public, private, and civic sectors ranging from local to global scales. Evidence for present-day heterarchy in global governance can be seen in the rise of a number of transnational networks (such as NATO, the United Nations, the WTO, and the EU) to facilitate trade, security, and international cooperation.