Monocratic cybersecurity in the EU member states: insights from Italy, France, Germany and Spain

Mauro Santaniello & Michele Barbieri

ABSTRACT

The paper investigates the interplay between the development of cybersecurity policies and one of the major transformations underway in contemporary democratic regimes, i.e. the gradual shifting of power and decision-making authority from parliamentary assemblies towards national governments and prime ministers. The study relates the structure of cybersecurity governance in the four major EU member states (i.e. France, Germany, Italy and Spain) to the rise of the monocratic government, meant as a political process affecting the relationships both between executive and legislative powers, and between public authorities and private interests. The analysis shows how monocratization affects national cybersecurity policies in contemporary Western democracies, albeit to varying degrees in the four Eu member states. Furthermore, the analysis emphasizes the role of cybersecurity policymaking as a driver of monocratization, which is gradually expanding the power of prime ministers at the expense of parliaments.

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