Abstract
This research sets out to analyze the message promoted by start-up enterprises that apply blockchain technologies for the purpose of e-voting [blockchain-powered e-voting (BPE)], and their perceived effects of this technological solution on democratic outcomes. Employing Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA), I examined the written output of seven BPE start-ups (Agora, DemocracyEarth, Follow My Vote, Polys, Voatz, Votem, and VoteWatcher), as displayed in their websites. The close attention of CDA to power relations brought out relevant topics of discussion for analysis. Notably, these included: voting as an expression of democracy; technological determinism; individual versus communitarian understandings of democracy; the prominence of neoliberalism and the economic sphere; and technological literacy. Findings from the literature suggest that the assumptions of BPE start-ups about a blockchain-powered democracy diverge from widely accepted understandings of democracy. BPE start-ups envision a democracy determined by positions and institutions of power, by the technologically able, and by economic interests. This research argues that this conception of democracy disempowers voters from any form of decision-making regarding how democracy is run beyond their expression in the form of a vote decided by these established powers. The widespread addresses to existing elites to enable BPE, as well as what is left unsaid about community, collective rights and the not so technologically literate population, imply that BPE developers display concern for one particular expression among the many diverse and heterogeneous understandings of democracy, while disregarding outstanding privacy, security and accountability concerns associated to implementations of the technology for BPE. This work is a contribution to much needed research on technology and democracy’s deepening intersections, at a time of rapid technological innovation and turbulent democratic scepticism.
Highlights
The possibilities of use of blockchain technologies in the public sector have been thoroughly reviewed recently (Berryhill et al, 2018; Thomason et al, 2019)
The critical discourse analysis (CDA) conducted covers the bulk of the publicly available information offered in their web pages by seven blockchain-powered e-voting (BPE) startups: Agora; Democracy Earth; Follow My Vote; Polys; Votem; Voatz; and VoteWatcher (Table 1), following Fairclough’s threedimensional canonical model: textual, discursive, and societal (Fairclough, 1995)
Some challenges to the CDA are worthy of mention, notably, the abundance of data in the seven websites, as well as the general lack of discursive data due to the “newness” of blockchain for e-voting
Summary
The possibilities of use of blockchain technologies in the public sector have been thoroughly reviewed recently (Berryhill et al, 2018; Thomason et al, 2019). According to the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (American Council for Technology Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC), 2017) most areas of the public sector could benefit from the use of blockchains (Berryhill et al, 2018; Thomason et al, 2019) It is perhaps the application of blockchains for voting that has become the most advocated (Allen et al, 2019), outstanding security risks remain (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018; Park et al, 2020) that could hinder its widespread application and that have resulted in early failures (Juels et al, 2018; Goodman and Halderman, 2020). The need for alternatives to in-person voting is likely to intensify the scrutiny over privacy and security issues with those systems (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018; Park et al, 2020), as the recent November 2020 United States presidential election, with its widespread– not necessarily well-founded–allegations of voting irregularities starkly highlighted
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