Austin's model is quite beautiful in its simplicity. It asserts the first tenet of positivism, that the law is a set of rules specially selected to govern public order, and offers a simple factual test-what has the sovereign commanded?-as the sole criterion for identifying those special rules. In time, however, those who studied and tried to apply Austin's model found it too simple.

XREF: This connects to legal positivism debates and the Hart-Fuller dispute over law's moral dimension. Builds on: "Legal obligation arises from sovereign commands backed by sanctions"

Ronald Dworkin, Ronald Dworkin - The Model …, loc. 35