Democracy in the digital age.
Text: Christian R. Ulbrich, legal scholar*
Christian R. Ulbrich combines his interest in computer technology with jurisprudence and examines the question of how digitalization influences political power relations.
“I became interested in computers back when I was a teenager, and I built my first computer myself. Nevertheless, I decided to study law because it opened up a wider range of opportunities. My fascination with computer science persisted, however, and I wanted to combine the two subjects after finishing my degree. I was particularly interested in cybersecurity, encryption and internet surveillance.
In my doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich, I therefore explored how suspects’ Wi-Fi networks are monitored and how the encryption of internet connections can be hacked for this purpose, as well as the extent to which such action by law enforcement agencies can be reconciled with the law. In addition to the legal issues, I particularly wanted to understand how encryption algorithms work from a mathematical perspective.
After completing my doctoral thesis, I went to work at a leading global professional services network, where I developed expertise and advisory services relating to digitalization efforts by tax authorities around the world.
It became clear to me that, thanks to developments in the private sector, people had become used to digitalization processes and were increasingly accepting of them. The state can now jump on this bandwagon, benefit from existing experience, and launch its own large-scale transformation.
Yet what does the increasing digitalization of the state mean for the functioning of democracies? How does this affect the separation of powers, federalism, state sovereignty, and the freedom of citizens and companies? Keen to know more, I gave up my well-paid job in favor of research. Now, I’m the director of e-PIAF, the electronic Public Institutions and Administrations Research Forum, at the University of Basel.
What I’ve understood about these developments so far is summarized in the nonfiction book Automated Democracy — Die Neuverteilung von Macht und Einfluss im digitalen Staat (“Automated democracy — the redistribution of power and influence in the digital state”). I’m currently developing an annual fitness check that monitors the extent to which state institutions are adapting to digitalization.
Personally, I believe that digitalization is something the state must embrace. At the same time, it’s vital that we adapt the institutional framework in order to prevent abuse. This is the only way to ensure that humans benefit from the new digital world for the long term.”
*as related to Noëmi Kern
More articles in this issue of UNI NOVA (November 2024).