Blockchain as an institutional tool of public administration modernization in the context of democracy 3.0.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of blockchain technologies as an institutional tool for modernizing public administration in the context of the transition to Democracy 3.0. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to find new mechanisms to improve the efficiency, transparency, and legitimacy of public administration in the context of the digital transformation of society. This issue is of particular importance for Ukraine, which is simultaneously modernizing its state institutions in the context of war and European integration processes. The aim of the study is to provide a theoretical and methodological justification for the role of blockchain technologies as an institutional tool for the transformation of public administration in the context of the emergence of Democracy 3.0 and to determine the prospects for their implementation in the Ukrainian public sector. The methodological basis of the study is a neo-institutional approach, which allows us to consider blockchain not only as a technology, but also as a new type of institutional organization that transforms the rules, norms, and mechanisms of interaction between the state and citizens. The main results of the study include the conceptualization of the phenomenon of Democracy 3.0 as a new paradigm of public administration based on the principles of decentralization, transparency, and continuous citizen participation. It has been proven that blockchain acts as the technological basis for institutional change through three mechanisms: decentralization of trust, automation of execution through smart contracts, and immutability of records. Key institutional transformations influenced by blockchain technologies have been identified: the transition from representative to participatory and “liquid democracy” (a hybrid model of political governance that combines elements of direct and representative democracy, allowing citizens to flexibly choose between personal voting and delegating their vote to trusted representatives with the possibility of revoking this delegation at any time), the replacement of centralized control with decentralized verification, and the transformation of the trust economy from institutional to cryptographic. It is argued that blockchain creates a new architecture of state power, where traditional hierarchical structures are complemented by network forms of organization and decentralized autonomous organizations. The Ukrainian context of digital transformation of public administration is analyzed, including the experience of creating the Ministry of Digital Transformation, implementing the Dія ecosystem, and developing blockchain registries. Specific challenges to the implementation of blockchain technologies in Ukraine have been identified: legal barriers, the digital divide, bureaucratic resistance, and the need to ensure cybersecurity in the context of hybrid warfare. The novelty of the research lies in the development of a conceptual model of blockchain-mediated institutional transformation of public administration, which integrates the theory of neo-institutionalism with the concept of democracy 3.0. The practical value of the results is determined by the possibility of using the proposed approaches to form public policy on the digitalization of the public sector in Ukraine. Prospects for further research include empirical verification of the proposed model, development of metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of blockchain solutions in public administration, and research on the socio-psychological factors of citizens’ acceptance of decentralized forms of participation in public administration.