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On 24/10/2014 11:03 am, michael gurstein wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">As you and perhaps everyone well knows I
have for several<u> years </u>both via these email lists and
my blog been asking for a definition of “MSism”, each time
getting a reply somewhat parallel to Gene’s trivial response “<i>Yes,
I am very busy making public declarations as appropriate on
important matters. And I'm sure I and many others will
address this issue when we see the right time and place to
do so</i>.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I realize how important you are and how
valuable your time is but surely since this has been a
dominant meme and priority initiative for you and other
elements of CS for several years some type of definition would
be appropriate and surely sometime over those last few years
there would have been a “right time and place” to give that
definition!<o:p></o:p></p>
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<br>
That's why I set up a fluid working group under Best Bits to develop
such a definition, but there was not much participation (or maybe
the LiquidFeedback software was too complex for people to be
comfortable using):<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://bestbits.net/lf/">http://bestbits.net/lf/</a><br>
<br>
So far, FWIW, this is the definition that has most support (Avri
wrote it):<br>
<br>
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Multistakeholderism: study and practice of forms of participatory
democracy that allow for all those who have a stake and who have the
inclination, to participate on equal footing in the deliberation of
issues and the recommendation of solutions. While final decisions
and implementation may be assigned to a single stakeholder group,
these decision makers are always accountable to all of the
stakeholders for their decisions and the implementations.<br>
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<p>with the following definitions of some included terms</p>
Equal footing: <br>
<p>The recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all stakeholders, on
the basis of equality and without discrimination, of the freedom
to participate in multistakeholder processes. In Internet
governance this is in line with stakeholders’ roles and
responsibilities, which should be interpreted in a flexible manner
with reference to the issue under discussion. As with UN
representation by governments, where all are equal regardless of
size or wealth, contributions should be judged on their quality,
and not by the number of people that a representative may claim.
Notions of equal footing must take into account all aspects of
capacity to participate, and must strive to enable full
participation through capacity building and development agendas.</p>
Stakeholder:<br>
<p>A term borrowed from Project Management.</p>
<p>” Loosely defined, a stakeholder is a person or group of people
who can affect or be affected by a given project. Stakeholders can
be individuals working on a project, groups of people or
organizations, or even segments of a population. A stakeholder may
be actively involved in a project’s work, affected by the
project’s outcome, or in a position to affect the project’s
success. “</p>
<p>and the derivative:</p>
Multistakeholder process:<br>
<p>A form of participatory democracy where any person, alone or as
part of a group, can contribute fully.</p>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Global Policy Analyst
Electronic Frontier Foundation
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://eff.org">https://eff.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jmalcolm@eff.org">jmalcolm@eff.org</a>
Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161
:: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::</pre>
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