The Actor Before Sovereigns: Identity, Impersonation, and the Conditions of Authority

This work is a non-normative, non-operational doctrinal examination of identity as a constitutional precondition for authority, accountability, and sovereignty in institutional and digitally mediated systems. The book argues that authority collapses not only when decisions are wrong, but when no identifiable actor can be bound to those decisions over time. It examines how modern digital execution—through delegation, impersonation, chaining, automation, decentralization, and emergence—erodes identity in its constitutional sense, even when technical recognition, authentication, or auditability remain intact. Rather than treating identity as a technical or administrative problem, this doctrine treats identity as the condition that allows obligations, responsibility, and sovereignty to attach to an actor. It shows how contemporary systems increasingly produce actions without authors, outcomes without owners, and consequences without accountable subjects, leaving law and governance unable to locate who can be bound when harm occurs. This work does not propose solutions, safeguards, governance models, controls, or implementation guidance. It does not define compliance requirements, certify systems, or prescribe best practices. Its purpose is diagnostic and explanatory: to name and structure the conditions under which identity fails and authority becomes illusory. The publication is jurisdiction-neutral and does not constitute legal advice. It is part of a closed constitutional corpus examining institutional authority under conditions of scale, automation, and digital execution, and is intended for courts, regulators, institutional leaders, and scholars concerned with accountability when systems continue to function but responsibility disappears.