Policy and Complex Systems

"The world around us is a complex web of relationships connecting people, companies, groups, countries, and policies into a complex policy system that provides the context for our daily existence. Under such circumstances, it is imperative that our policies at all levels (local, state, country, the world), intended to regulate such systems, take into consideration this richness of both relevant system elements and relationships among them. Companies, societies, markets, or humans rarely stay in a stable, predictable state for long. Randomness, power laws, and human behavior ensure that the future is both unknown and challenging. How do events unfold? When do they take hold? Why do some initial events cause an avalanche of policy change while others do not? What characterizes these events? What are the thresholds that differentiate a sea change from insignificant variation? And, most importantly, what can we do at the policy level to promote activities that will bring about positive, long-term, and sustainable changes in the system of interest?"

Some questions being raised by Paul Rich, President - Policy Studies Organization
http://www.ipsonet.org/publications/open-access/policy-and-complex-systems