Flow Atlas: An Effective Field Theory of Institutional Dynamics

We develop a first-principles effective field theory of institutional dynamics, grounded in a renormalisation-group (RG) analysis of legislative coherence. Starting from a stochastic process for an institutional order parameter τ, we construct a Martin–Siggia–Rose–Janssen–De Dominicis (MSRJD) path integral, identify instantation configurations, and promote the resulting Hamiltonian to a non-Hermitian operator algebra with commutator [ˆ τ,ˆ π] = iℏinst. The spectrum yields discrete coherence modes. Near a fixed point, the algebra reduces to a harmonic oscillator; coherent states recover the classical RG flow. Instanton calculus gives tunneling rates between basins. The effective Hamiltonian projects onto a tight-binding network; a non-Hermitian extension accounts for dissipation. Harmonic inversion and maximum entropy reconstruct the complex spectral density ρ(λ). The renormalisation group flow on ρ(λ) exhibits three universal phases: stable bipartisan, critical transition, and oscillatory polarisation cycles. These phases are classified by the universal unfolding of the A2 cusp catastrophe, with the control parameter space carrying a natural Frobenius manifold structure. We conjecture that the spectral RG is isomonodromic, linking it to Painlev´e VI in the two-mode reduction; the tau-function provides a scalar health metric. The framework unifies stochastic field theory, non-Hermitian spectral methods, catastrophe geometry, and integrable systems into a testable theory of legislative stability.