The law of technological power displacement: Technological non-neutrality and the structural growth of power asymmetry in technological societies

Abstract

Technological change is not neutral with respect to power. This paper derives a conditional law of technological power displacement: technology can shift power from citizens towards a public–corporate regulatory apparatus without deliberate intent or corporate monopoly. A three-equation dynamic model links relational disorder, self-reinforcing regulatory expansion, and regulators’ technical dependence on regulated actors. When technological complexity does not decrease and accumulated regulation facilitates further expansion, the ratio of regulatory expansion to effective democratic restoration rises monotonically. Once expansion outpaces restoration, the imbalance persists under unchanged conditions. Government is central to this process: its regulatory response expands institutional power while technical dependence can erode its capacity to restore democratic balance. A Spanish regulatory index (1978–2024) and an EU-27 panel (2000–2022) provide directional consistency checks. Open standards and technically independent regulators can slow displacement; preserving democratic balance requires changing the structural dynamics that technological deployment sets in motion.