Constrained Informational Systems: A Formal Framework for Lawful Emergence Under Constraint

This preprint introduces Constrained Informational Systems (CIS), a formal framework for analyzing how structure, meaning, and system behavior emerge under constraint. The framework treats constraint as a primitive structural feature shaping allowable transformations within informational state spaces, rather than as a normative rule, control mechanism, or agent-driven influence. CIS characterizes semantic entropy as dispersion in interpretive alignment across a system and shows how varying constraint regimes produce identifiable failure modes, including over-coherence, paralysis, and irreversible collapse. The paper proposes observable system-level signatures of these dynamics and delineates conditions under which semantic phase transitions occur, without appeal to belief change, persuasion, or subjective intent. This work is intentionally domain-agnostic and non-metaphorical. Formal mathematical instantiation, domain-specific application, and empirical modeling are deliberately deferred to subsequent volumes. This preprint represents the first public component of a staged research program concerned with lawful emergence in constrained informational systems.