A period of flux, uncertainty and ambiguity is definitely not the right moment for codification and constitution writing. Both perspectives, however, suppose that the comparative efficiency of forms of governance and organisation is the key factor that determines their chances of survival. Gardeners, incremental reforms and meanders . Studies of comprehensive institutional reform in large-scale, complex and dynamic systems with unresolved conflict suggest that reorganisation of the polity with a single scheme is unlikely to be politically digestible. Change is not well understood and controlled, and actual reforms are usually incremental rather than comprehensive.
Governance is less a matter of engineering than of gardening.
8 Existing institutional configurations are usually the result of long historical processes, involving conflicts, victories, defeats and compromises, as well as processes of interpretation, learning and habituation. In this perspective, reforms are influenced by environments and political actors. Yet, institutions do not adapt instantaneously or efficiently to minor changes in will, power, or circumstances. Sounding out, in contrast to Habermasian force-free deliberation, involves the systematic use of ambiguity. It is important for each participant to avoid taking an early stand.