Abstract
Cyberspace has evolved as a domain of overlapping and essentially contested authorities. This paper seeks to explore the underlying power dynamics between supranational and national actors within the European Union. I argue that, historically, the persistent securitization of cyberspace has constituted structural power positions that privilege member states and grant them the responsibility of formulating policy responses to new challenges. An empirical analysis of more than 500 speech acts collected from public discourse in Germany and the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2017 shows, however, that securitization has not freed governments from normal politics. Calls for exceptional policies have been vague. The conceptual link between securitization and structural power thus allows for a differentiated view as to who should be in charge of cyberspace. These findings contribute to a better understanding of today’s cyberpolitics and the historical constitution of structural power within Europe.
Highlights
The Internet is evolving rapidly from a technological and economic point of view that brings about manifold changes in our daily lives (Nye, 2017), it is developing into a governance space where authorities overlap and a diverse set of actors compete for power
A zero value indicates either that the discourse is perfectly balanced between securitization and non-securitization or that there is no speech act at all referring to the nature of cyberspace in that particular year
Who should be in charge of it? Private actors, nation states, or international organizations? While the European Union (EU) has recently legislated on network and information security, member states have prevailed insofar as they have set these rules according to their national interests
Summary
Terms of access and reuse for this work are governed by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CCBY 4.0) International license. If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the working paper series and number, the year and the publisher. ISSN 1028-3625
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