Connective Democratic Tissue: Second-Order Technologies for Civic Ecosystems

The field of deliberative and participatory democracy is moving towards an ecosystemic view, where the emphasis is not on a single perspective or method but on recognizing the diversity of ways to participate politically and the interconnections among them. However, this emphasis has not been fully translated into the digital infrastructures that underpin many of these efforts, which still rely on general-purpose information systems operating in isolation and competing for the same resources. We propose the concept of ‘second-order technologies’ to show how we might move the technical infrastructures of democracy towards greater ecosystemic engagement. To explore this approach, we compare recent case studies that foster collaboration between democratic participation information systems. These cases draw on Metagov’s interoperability cohorts and the recently developed Crownshy interoperability solution. Taken together, these cases illustrate the variety of second-order technologies, including interoperability grants, collaborative efforts to develop shared data ontologies and standards, and technical wrappers that integrate open-source solutions into single instances. Whereas the case of Crownshy involves a more centralized interoperability model, in which the second-order technology itself serves as the gatekeeper of which tools are integrated and how, it also closely enables interoperability, letting users engage with and combine multiple tools. Metagov’s case, on the other hand, enacts a more decentralized interoperability, working towards a common ground for a flexible set of civic technologies. However, it also does so at the cost of greater distance, keeping it further from users and actual use cases. These cases show that transforming the democratic character of civic technologies is itself a socio-technical process and that interoperability is more than just technical feasibility. However, it is currently underserved and underfunded. We conclude by proposing a call to action to ‘ecologize’ the civic technology landscape and by exploring the specific fairness, accountability, and transparency challenges of second-order civic technologies.