TY - JOUR AU - Reijers, Wessel AU - O'Brolcháin, Fiachra AU - Haynes, Paul PY - 2016/12/21 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Governance in Blockchain Technologies & Social Contract Theories JF - Ledger JA - ledger VL - 1 IS - 0 SE - Research Articles DO - 10.5195/ledger.2016.62 UR - https://www.ledgerjournal.org/ojs/ledger/article/view/62 SP - 134-151 AB - <p align="left"><span id="E1000">This paper</span><span id="E1001"> is placed in the</span><span id="E1002"> context of a</span><span id="E1003"> growing number of social and political crit</span><span id="E1004">iq</span><span id="E1005">ues of blockchain technologies. </span><span id="E1006">We focus on the </span><span id="E1007">supposed potential </span><span id="E1008">of blockchain technologies </span><span id="E1009">to transform </span><span id="E1010">political </span><span id="E1011">institutions that are central to </span><span id="E1012">contemporary </span><span id="E1013">human societies,</span><span id="E1014"> such as </span><span id="E1016">money, </span><span id="E1019">property right</span><span id="E1020">s</span><span id="E1021"> regimes</span><span id="E1022">,</span><span id="E1023"> and systems of democratic governance. </span><span id="E1024">Our aim is</span><span id="E1025"> to </span><span id="E1026">examine the way</span><span id="E1027"> blockchain technologies can</span><span id="E1029">bring about</span><span id="E1030"> - and justify - </span><span id="E1031">new </span><span id="E1032">models of governance</span><span id="E1033">. </span><span id="E1034">To do so, w</span><span id="E1035">e draw </span><span id="E1036">on </span><span id="E1038">the philosophical works of Hobbes</span><span id="E1039">,</span><span id="E1040"> Rousseau</span><span id="E1041">,</span><span id="E1042"> and Rawls</span><span id="E1043">, analyzing blockchain governance in </span><span id="E1044">terms </span><span id="E1045">of </span><span id="E1046">contrasting </span><span id="E1048">social contract theories</span><span id="E1049">. </span><span id="E1051">We begin by comparing the</span><span id="E1052"> justifications of blockchain governance offered by</span><span id="E1053"> members of</span><span id="E1054"> the blockchain developers</span><span id="E1055">’</span><span id="E1056"> community with the justifications of governance </span><span id="E1057">presented with</span><span id="E1058">in social contract theories</span><span id="E1059">. </span><span id="E1060">We then </span><span id="E1062">examine </span><span id="E1064">the</span><span id="E1065"> extent </span><span id="E1066">to which </span><span id="E1067">the model of governance offered by blockchain technologies </span><span id="E1069">reflect</span><span id="E1070">s</span><span id="E1071"> key governance themes and assumptions located within </span><span id="E1072">social contract theories</span><span id="E1073">, focusing on the notions of sovereignty, </span><span id="E1074">the </span><span id="E1075">initial situation, </span><span id="E1076">decentralization and distributive justice</span><span id="E1077">.</span></p> ER -