Hungarian Energy Law as an Example of Using Complex System Viewpoints to Understand Risks in Public Administration Normativity

Abstract

Complex networks and complex adaptive systems theories come from hard sciences. The question arises whether these viewpoints can add anything to the understanding of the operation and failures of continental normativity governing the public sector. In the first part, this paper intends to demonstrate for the first time via industry-specific examples that Hungarian energy law, one of the absolute extremes of the rigid continental law is per se following complex adaptive system attributes as being implemented by the public administration, thus refuting any reductionist and linear concepts of ‘classical’ continental public law routines and prejudice. This leads to such essential features of complex systems like emergence, the ‘robust yet fragile’ dilemma and the issue of systemic risk that we investigate in the second part, also covering unpublished case studies, letting us closer to identify risks within the law applied by public administration. This in our view can add a lot to the understanding and improvement of the quality of normativity in order to mitigate systemic risks within law and public administration.