ICT-based co-production and democracy: Enacting space, people, and authority in polycentric sites of governance in Estonia

Abstract

This study examines the democratic risks and coping strategies related to ICT-enabled co-production. The article turns to the scholarship on polycentric governance and outlines three potential sources of institutional misfit relevant for practicing democracy in multi-centered sites of service provision: limited jurisdictional integrity, plural solidarities, and “liquid authority.” The empirical inquiry explores these points of misfit across three arenas of ICT-based co-production in Estonia. While the instances of co-production investigated resemble sites of polycentric governance, these tend to be unaccompanied by institutional arrangements able to address the democratic challenges that stem from multi-centered spaces. The findings offer evidence for the potential of ICT-enabled co-production to significantly alter the existing order of public governance while institutional innovations able to reconcile polycentricity with democracy are failing to keep pace.