Affiliations: [a] School of Governance, Utrecht University,
Bijlhouwerstraat 6, 3511 ZC Utrecht, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 30 253 9568;
E-mail: [email protected]
| School of Governance, Utrecht University, The
Netherlands | Department of Statistics, Trinity College,
Ireland | Department of Public Administration, Erasmus
University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract: This paper starts with the observation that liberal and discursive
perspectives have been dominant in academic analyses of the role of technology
in the future of democracy. The perspective of democracy as a participatory
practice is largely ignored by academic investigations of electronic democracy.
This paper argues that new technologies increasingly enable citizens to
organize their own forms of public value production in a Do It Yourself (DIY)
State: governance without government. The DIY State should not be seen as
utopia. Although the DIY State may reflect the hippy ideal of a supportive
community, it could also take the form of a 'jungle' where only the fittest
survive. A further understanding of this form of democracy, of the way it is
affected by new technologies, and of the remaining role for government, is
needed to inform public debate and practices.
