The Cyberfare State: divergent models of digital governance and control

The digital transformation of state functions has produced a profound paradox: technologies that enhance welfare provision simultaneously enable unprecedented surveillance and control. While optimistic accounts celebrate e-government and Digital-Era Governance for increasing efficiency and citizen engagement, critical scholarship warns of surveillance capitalism and digital authoritarianism. This article introduces the Cyberfare State as a new theoretical framework that transcends the utopia–dystopia binary, conceptualising digital governance as the dialectical unity of welfare and warfare functions in cyberspace. Drawing on historical welfare-state and warfare-state models, the analysis distinguishes two ideal-typical configurations: the smart total-control Cyberfare State, characteristic of authoritarian regimes, which fuses state and corporate power to maximise surveillance and offensive capability; and the cooperating Cyberfare State, viable only under rule-of-law constraints, which requires sustained, rights-compliant collaboration among state, private-sector, and individual actors. The cooperating model’s viability hinges on systemic cybersecurity education and the integration of citizens as active co-producers of national resilience, yet persistent educational deficits and reliance on sporadic awareness campaigns leave individuals as the weakest link. Failure to implement comprehensive reform risks irreversible societal harm and strategic disadvantage against authoritarian rivals. The Cyberfare State framework thus offers a roadmap for transatlantic democracies to navigate hybrid threats while preserving democratic values.