Abstract Whether We Identify It Or Not

Abstract: Whether we recognize it or not it is evident that the Internet is rife with innovative and unique institutional forms that are revolutionizing the way that people interact on and offline. Software engineers have had to face challenges in dealing with issues of governance on these platforms as well as other institutions. Many of them have had no exposure to relevant history or theories of institutional design. This framework is intended to foster dialog between computer scientists and political scientists, and other researchers. A behavioral engineering model that is focused on incentives and a range of atheoretical approaches like A/B testing and incremental issue-driven programming have been the dominant guiding practices in the design of digital institutions. The "Ostrom Workshop" resource governance literature has proven to be a valuable tool in the design of traditional institutions. MINECRAFT SERVERS One of the key findings of this literature, which has yet to be widely integrated into the design of many new institutions is the importance of including participatory process processes in what is known as a "constitutional" layer of design for institutions. This basically defines rules that allow for and facilitate different stakeholder participation in institution design changes. We explore to what extent this principle is being met or could be better satisfied in three distinct instances of digital institutions: cryptocurrencies cannabis informatics, and amateur Minecraft server governance. We can show the importance of constitutional layers in various types of digital institutions by studying the various scenarios.