Maria Y. Beletskaya Digital Platforms as a Mechanism for Transforming the Structural Power of the State and Corporations in United States

DOI: 10.38050/2078-3809-2026-18-3-157-179

Abstract

This article examines digital platforms as a mechanism for transforming the structural power of the state and corporations in the United States. Its theoretical foundation is the concept of structural power, adapted to the digital economy, in which power is exercised through control over access infrastructure, data, computing capacity, interfaces, and the rules of participation. The study aims to develop approaches to the analysis of platform structural power and to identify the forms through which it manifests itself in the interaction among the state, corporations, and the world economy. Methodologically, the article relies on a qualitative comparative analysis of the rules governing platform operations. The principal scholarly contribution lies in refining the concept of platform structural power and in developing a matrix of platform structural power that makes it possible to distinguish among different types of platform power. The article demonstrates that U.S. platforms export not only services, but also regimes of access, monetization, compatibility, trust, and control, thereby enhancing the capacities of both the state and business while simultaneously generating new dependencies and risks of geoeconomic fragmentation.

Keywords: structural power; digital platforms; platform structural power; United States; digital economy; private rulemaking; infrastructural dependence; geoeconomic fragmentation.

JEL: O1, O3.

For citation: Beletskaya, M.Y. (2026) Digital Platforms as a Mechanism for Transforming the Structural Power of the State and Corporations in United States. Scientific Research of Faculty of Economics. Electronic Journal, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 157-179. DOI: 10.38050/2078-3809-2026-18-3-157-179.

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