Digital Sovereignty, Cyber Governance, and Democratic Resilience: Comparative Institutional Analysis of the European Union and China in the Age of Geopolitical Technological Competition

Abstract

The intensification of geopolitical technological competition has transformed digital governance into a central arena of global political contestation. States increasingly frame digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data governance, and platform regulation as matters of national sovereignty, economic security, and institutional resilience. This article examines how contrasting political institutions shape cyber governance and digital sovereignty strategies through a comparative analysis of the European Union and China. While both actors seek technological autonomy and governance control over digital ecosystems, they pursue fundamentally different institutional pathways. The European Union emphasizes regulatory governance, democratic accountability, data protection, and multilevel institutional coordination, whereas China advances a centralized state-centric model integrating cybersecurity governance, industrial strategy, and digital political control. Using comparative governance analysis and institutional political economy approaches, this study investigates how political institutions mediate digital sovereignty implementation, cybersecurity governance, democratic legitimacy, and socio-economic resilience. Drawing on OECD reports, EU regulatory frameworks, Chinese digital governance policies, World Bank governance indicators, cybersecurity governance literature, and international institutional reports, the findings indicate that digital sovereignty is not merely a technological issue but a political-institutional process shaped by governance structures, state capacity, and geopolitical strategy. The article contributes to comparative politics and governance scholarship by developing a framework linking digital sovereignty, institutional coordination, cyber governance, democratic resilience, and sustainable technological development in the evolving global digital order