State Viability as a Criterion for the Quality of Domestic and Foreign Policy: Real and Informational Dimensions

Abstract

This article examines State Viability as a possible complementary criterion for evaluating the quality of domestic and foreign policy within the framework of Vitology. Contemporary policy evaluation commonly considers economic performance, institutional effectiveness, national security, public welfare, legality, legitimacy, administrative capacity, social stability, and international outcomes. These dimensions remain essential. However, states are complex open multi-level systems whose long-term development depends not only on immediate policy results but also on their capacity to preserve institutional functionality, adapt to changing conditions, recover from disturbances, maintain social and informational feedback, regenerate critical resources, and create conditions for further development. The article introduces a distinction between Real State Viability and Informational State Viability. Real State Viability refers to the actual capacity of the state and society to preserve essential functions, institutional continuity, security, adaptive capacity, regenerative potential, and developmental possibilities. Informational State Viability refers to the capacity of the informational and cognitive environment of the state and society to adequately represent relevant reality, detect disturbances, preserve feedback, recognize uncertainty, distinguish significant signals from informational noise and distortion, learn from errors, and support corrective decision-making. A conceptual State Viability Matrix is proposed by considering combinations of high and low real and informational viability. The article also introduces the concept of the Viability Perception Gap, describing the divergence between the actual condition of a system and its informational representation, interpretation, or dominant perception. Domestic and foreign policy are examined as interconnected processes operating through the cycle: Reality → Information → Interpretation → Decision → Action → New Reality → Feedback → Updated Information. The article proposes that policy quality should be evaluated not only through immediate achievements but also through consequences across system levels and time horizons. Particular attention is devoted to institutional functionality, economic resilience, security, demographic continuity, social cohesion, healthcare, education and science, infrastructure, adaptive and regenerative capacity, feedback quality, and international relations. The proposed framework does not identify state viability with preservation of a particular government, political regime, ideology, or administrative structure. Nor is informational viability equated with propaganda effectiveness, information control, favorable public perception, or maximization of information volume. Instead, viability-oriented policy evaluation depends on the ability of the state and society to perceive changing reality, preserve corrective feedback, identify errors, recognize uncertainty, adapt to disturbances, regenerate lost capacities, and maintain opportunities for long-term development. The framework is presented as a conceptual research direction requiring further formalization, comparative analysis, development of indicators, computational modeling, and empirical validation. Keywords Vitology; state viability; real state viability; informational state viability; domestic policy; foreign policy; public policy; information quality; governance; state capacity; feedback; adaptation; regeneration; resilience; informational systems; cognitive navigation; policy evaluation; international relations; public administration; Computational Vitology.