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Innovating Democracy? Analyzing the #WirVsVirus Hackathon

Author

Listed:
  • Thiel, Thorsten
  • Berg, Sebastian
  • Clute-Simon, Veza
  • Rakowski, Niklas

Abstract

The article concerns the case of #WirVsVirus, a civic hackathon organized in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and officially endorsed by Germany’s federal government. It aims to address the normative implications of this politically oriented technological format. Specifically, it asks how civic hackathons formulate and negotiate different political representation claims. Our analysis shows that the hackathon constituted a successful representative claim on behalf of civic tech initiatives vis-à-vis the administrative state. While this claim primarily concerned establishing a new format for efficient and subsidiary problem-solving in the wake of the crisis, the hackathon’s participatory promises have only been partially fulfilled. The hackathon was rather open to input from civil society, enabling it to attract substantial public interest. Nonetheless, its technological-organizational structure and competitive, solution-oriented procedures meant that decision-making power remained largely with the hackathon’s organizers.

Suggested Citation

  • Thiel, Thorsten & Berg, Sebastian & Clute-Simon, Veza & Rakowski, Niklas, 2023. "Innovating Democracy? Analyzing the #WirVsVirus Hackathon," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 1-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:333970
    DOI: 10.34669/WI.WJDS/3.1.4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pamela J. Robinson & Peter A. Johnson, 2016. "Civic Hackathons: New Terrain for Local Government-Citizen Interaction?," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(2), pages 65-74.
    2. Peter Johnson & Pamela Robinson, 2014. "Civic Hackathons: Innovation, Procurement, or Civic Engagement?," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 31(4), pages 349-357, July.
    3. Pamela J. Robinson & Peter A. Johnson, 2016. "Civic Hackathons: New Terrain for Local Government-Citizen Interaction?," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(2), pages 65-74.
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