426 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ESSA Y The aesthetics of governance. . . in the year 2491 Anthony J. N. Judge The last decades of the 20th century are a time when there is much talk of new paradigms, quantum leaps, new eras, social innovations and breakthroughs of many kinds. They are also a time of many challenges. There are questions as to whether the creative innovations we envisage will be adequate to these challenges. l-low, for example, do we collectively sense and grasp a fragile new gestalt that is an emerging paradigm in embryonic form? This essay is an exercise in imagining how the creative imagination might be used some time in the future, possibly 500 years hence-unfettered and unconstrained by the obvious difficulties arising from our present priorities and understanding. The focus is on the contribution of the arts to more appropriate forms of policy making and to the design of more appropriate forms of social and conceptual structure.’ The concern in this essay is not with new forms of information technology, nor with new kinds of business graphics for the decision maker, nor with the com- munication of words. Neither is the focus on the design of conference rooms and the associated communica- tion technology, or on group dynamics and the manner in which such meetings might then be facilitated. The group processes and interpersonal dynamics of that future time, and their relationship to the personal growth of participants are not the concern. The focus here is on meaningful insight, its communication and its com- prehension-especially when partici- pants hold quite incompatible views. The concern is with the embodiment of new patterns of meaning-whatever me- dia are used to carry those meanings. In Anthony judge is at the Union of interna- tional Associations, Secretariat General, rue ~~ashington 40, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. An initial version of this paper was presented to the 11th world conference of the \?u’orld Futures Studies Federation, Budapest, May 1990. pursuing this theme it is assumed that in that distant future (say, 500 years from now) it may be possible to distinguish more effectively and creatively between insights and their expression and be- tween personal concerns and those of the collective. The challenge seems to lie in making policies more seductive and enthralling to the individual, on the one hand, and in finding ways to permit the arts to be more an evolving expression of collective insight rather than a series of isolated works associated with the personalities (and idiosyncracies) of their individual creators. Our tragedy at this time is that the longer-term policies to move us beyond the crises of our times, and the proces- ses by which they are formulated, are inherently boring to the vast majority of the population. But the creative express- ions to which we are all attracted, what- ever the form, do not offer us a means of articulating the frameworks for coliect- ive action, however well they may ex- press our aspirations. Live Aid can raise consciousness, enthusiasm and money, but as a process it cannot articulate and ensure its appropriate use. What seems FUTURES May 1991