[bestbits] multistakeholderism is democracy was Re: [] FW: US Is an O...

[parminder]

On Tuesday 15 April 2014 07:41 PM, Avri Doria wrote:
>
> On 15-Apr-14 09:37, Mawaki Chango wrote:
>> MSism is a decision-making process and I don't know where anyone could
>> have possibly taken that bogus idea that MSism is the next big thing
>> after democracy (just like democracy once was that next big thing after
>> tyranny, aristocracy, etc.)

You had in your email sought focussing on actual practices... Therefore 
you need to look at practices of MSism... It is indeed the next thing 
after democracy, and NOT democracy... MSism gives big business a veto on 
public policy making. This kind of thing is impossible to even mention 
in a democratic discourse.. But the same unmentionable has been dressed 
by employment of huge expenditure of resources in the respectable 
clothes if MSism.

Do you disagree that MSism as being practiced in its 'equal footing' 
model (1) gives veto power to big business and (2) such a thing is 
unattainable in democratic discourse and practice..

Now you may say that I am speaking about entirely imaginary models of 
MSism, and creatign strawmen of MSism...

Well, no..

On the BestBit list an elaborate model has been developed and presented, 
latest in response to the leaked NetMundial draft (did you also support 
this model?) which creates a multistakeholder screening mechanism for 
taking up any public policy issue.. Does this not give big business a 
veto on what matters can be taken for public policy treatment? Is this 
democratic?

Second, the NetMundial draft document seeks public policy making through 
consensus basis alone -  which is an multistakeholder consensus on equal 
footing...  It says that processes of governance have to be first be 
agreed by all stakeholders (keep reading business when I say 
stakeholders bec it is they for whom these models are fashioned)....

Now, is it democratic to give business (big business, no one asked my 
corner shop guy) such structural vetos over public policy making? What 
could be more democratic...

Since you said devil is in the details, lets talk about the detail and 
the devil... Lets talk specifics, and these above are the specifics of 
MSism...

parminder







> I am one who does argues that Multistakeholderism is not just another
> decision making process.
>
> I also do not claim in is the next big thing after democracy.  I argue
> that it is a form of democracy.  Multistakeholderism includes modalities
> of democratic organization as well as a variety of mechanisms.    It is
> a form of participatory democracy that builds upon the varieties of
> representational democracy that one finds in some countries and the
> various forms of self-organization that people in society uses to
> organize itself on issues of importance and brings them in the greater
> democratic mix.
>
> I do agree that there is not just one form of the multistakeholder
> model, but argue that there are attributes of Multistakeholderism as
> participatory democracy that are necessary.
>
> I too have yet to finish my self-promised work on multistakeholderism.
> Though I have written on this a bit.
>
> avri