The accelerating complexity of contemporary societies requires democratic institutions capable not only of exercising legitimate public authority but also of continuously understanding, interpreting and adapting to rapidly evolving social, technological, economic and environmental conditions. This Working Paper introduces Computational Governance as a new scientific discipline dedicated to the constitutional organisation of institutional cognition through computational architectures. Rather than interpreting artificial intelligence as an autonomous governing actor or as a mere instrument of administrative automation, the paper argues that computational systems should be understood as cognitive components embedded within constitutionally governed institutional architectures that preserve human sovereignty, democratic legitimacy and public accountability.
The paper develops a comprehensive theoretical framework explaining how institutions may organise perception, semantic knowledge, institutional memory, reasoning, learning and adaptation as integrated cognitive capabilities. It introduces the concepts of AI-native institutions, Digital Cognitive Infrastructure, shared cognitive services, distributed knowledge ecosystems, collective computational reasoning, recursive governance cycles, adaptive stability and self-evolving governance, demonstrating how computational cognition may strengthen institutional intelligence without altering the constitutional foundations of democratic government.
The central contribution of the paper is the formulation of a General Theory of Computational Governance, according to which governance evolves sustainably when computational cognition is constitutionally organised as a permanent institutional capability serving human judgement rather than replacing it. By positioning institutional cognition as the primary object of inquiry, the paper establishes Computational Governance as an interdisciplinary scientific field situated at the intersection of constitutional theory, public administration, systems science, cognitive science and artificial intelligence. It concludes by outlining a long-term research agenda that positions Computational Governance as one of the foundational pillars of the broader IDHUS programme on Institutional Cognition and the constitutional evolution of intelligent democratic governance.
