Jens Lanfer presents a foundational theoretical investigation of social innovations. For the analysis of innovation processes, he introduces a systems-theoretical concept that has both an adequate scope to describe innovations in society and sufficient depth to identify innovations and innovation potentials. The author applies the analytical concept to the political system and empirically examines innovation processes in the policy areas of internal security and social policy. In doing so, he theoretically and empirically clarifies the conditional and unlikely transformation of novelties into innovations.