Multi-Equal Stakeholderism (was Re: [bestbits] Joint civil society endorsements for London meeting of High-Level Panel)

[McTim]

Hi Anja,


On Fri, Nov 29, 2013 at 7:08 AM, Anja Kovacs <anja at internetdemocracy.in>wrote:
<snip>



> Also, if someone could guide me to a space where I can find out more about
> "multi-equal-stakeholderism" and its origins, I'd be grateful - first time
> I hear about this.
>

This is a very good question.  I don't know much about non-Internet-y
multi-equal-ness, but I think the purest form of multi-equal stakeholderism
in IG can be found in some of the RIR PDPs and the IETF processes.

Here are the relevant bits of the AFRINIC PDP (my emphasis added):

5) Policy Development Working Group

The Policy Development Working Group (PDWG) discusses about the
proposals. *Anyone
may participate via the Internet or in person. The work is carried out
through the Resource Policy Discussion mailing list (RPD) and the Public
Policy Meeting (PPM). Any person, participating either in person or
remotely, is considered to be part of the Policy Development Working Group.*



The Policy Development Working Group has two Chairs to perform the
administrative functions of the group. The Working Group Chairs will be
chosen by the AfriNIC community during the Public Policy Meeting and they
will serve staggered two-year terms. The term ends during the first Public
Policy Meeting meeting corresponding to the end of the term for which they
were appointed. A term may begin or end no sooner than the first day of the
Public Policy Meeting and no later than the last day of the Public Policy
Meeting as determined by the mutual agreement of the current Chair and the
new Chair.



As a special case for the two Working Group Chairs appointed when this
policy first takes effect, one of the Chairs will be appointed for a
two-year term, and the other Chair will be appointed for a one-year term.



If the Working Group Chair is unable to serve his or her full term, the
Working Group may select a replacement to serve the remainder of the term.
If the Working Group Chairs are unable to attend the Public Policy Meeting,
the Working Group shall nominate a Chair for the session. Anyone present at
the meeting, whether in person or by remote participation, may participate
in the selection process for a temporary Chair.


6) Policy Development Process

*Anyone can submit a proposal. *Policy proposals are submitted to the
Resource Policy Discussion mailing list by the author. AfriNIC will provide
administrative support and assist the author(s) in drafting the proposal,
if requested. AfriNIC shall also provide relevant facts and statistics if
requested during the discussion.



*6.1 Draft Policy*

During the development of a policy, draft versions of the document are made
available for review and comment by publishing them on the AfriNIC website
and posting them to the Resource Policy Discussion mailing list. The
document shall include the information mentioned in Appendix A. Each draft
policy is assigned a unique identifier by AfriNIC. The website shall also
contain the version history and the status of all proposals.



The draft policy shall be available for review for at least four weeks
before the next Public Policy Meeting. The author(s) shall make the
necessary changes to the draft policy according to the feedback received.
The Working Group Chair(s) may request AfriNIC to provide an analysis,
technical, financial, legal or other, of the impact of the draft policy.



A draft policy expires after one calendar year unless it is approved by the
AfriNIC Board of Directors as a policy. The timeout period is restarted
when the draft policy is replaced by a more recent version of the proposal.
A draft policy can be withdrawn by the author(s) by sending a notification
to the Resource Policy Discussion mailing list.



*6.2 Public Policy Meeting*

The draft policy is placed on the agenda of the an open public policy
meeting. The agenda of the meeting shall be announced on the Resource
Policy Discussion mailing list at least two weeks prior to the meeting. No
change can be made to a draft policy within one week of the meeting. This
is so that a stable version of the draft policy can be considered at the
meeting. *The Chair(s) determines whether rough consensus has been achieved
during the Public Policy Meeting.*



The Chair(s) shall publish the minutes of proceedings of the Public Policy
Meeting not later than three weeks after the meeting.



*6.3 Last Call*

A final review of the draft policy is initiated by the Working Group
Chair(s) by sending an announcement to the Resource Policy Discussion
mailing list. The Last Call period shall be at least two weeks. The Working
Group Chair(s) shall evaluate the feedback received during the Public
Policy Meeting and during this period and decide whether consensus has been
achieved.



*6.4 Approval*

The Working Group Chair(s) shall recommend the draft policy to the AfriNIC
Board of Directors for approval if it has the consensus of the Policy
Development Working Group. The recommendation shall include a report of the
discussions of the draft policy and feedback from the Last Call. The draft
policy shall be ratified by the AfriNIC Board of Directors.



*6.5 Implementation*

The adoption and implementation date of the policy is announced on the
Resource Policy Discussion mailing list. The implementation date should be
less than six months after the end of the Last Call unless a waiver is
requested.


7) Conflict Resolution

A person who disagrees with the actions taken by the Chair(s) shall discuss
the matter with the Working Group Chair(s) or with the Working Group. If
the disagreement cannot be resolved in this way, the person may file an
appeal with an Appeal Committee appointed by the AfriNIC Board of
Directors. An appeal can only be filed if it is supported by three (3)
persons from the Working Group who have participated in the discussions.



The appeal must be submitted within two weeks of the public knowledge of
the decision. The Appeal Committee shall issue a report on its review of
the complaint to the Working Group. The Appeal Committee may direct that
the Chair(s) decision be annulled if the Policy Development Process has not
been followed.



*Anyone may request the recall of a Working Group Chair at any time, upon
written request with justification to the AfriNIC Board of Directors.* The
request must supported by at least five (5) other persons from the Working
Group. The AfriNIC Board of Directors shall appoint a recall committee,
excluding the persons requesting the recall and the Working Group Chairs.
The recall committee shall investigate the circumstances of the
justification for the recall and determine the outcome.



For the IETF, please see http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2418


   "There is no formal membership in the IETF.  Participation is open to
   all.  This participation may be by on-line contribution, attendance
   at face-to-face sessions, or both.  Anyone from the Internet
   community who has the time and interest is urged to participate in
   IETF meetings and any of its on-line working group discussions.
   Participation is by individual technical contributors, rather than by
   formal representatives of organizations."


 Alternatively, there is http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3929.txt

I do recall seeing a video in which Steve Crocker secribes how some of the
early decisions were made.
I think it was for the ICANN 15 year anniversary, but maybe not.  In any
case, he describes the beginning of
these processes, or at least their early precursors.

I hope you find these useful.

Regards,

McTim
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