[governance] MAG and bureau

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Milton Mueller wrote:
>>>> raul at lacnic.net 5/24/2007 9:02 AM >>>
>> I still have not seen exactly what are the 
>> problems that we (or somebody else) are trying to solve.
> 
> For me, the main problem with the MAG is simply that it is
> insufficiently institutionalized. Instead of a defined, bottom up
> process for ongoing selection and rotation of its members, we have the
> initial selections stuck into place indefinitely. And the selections
> were hand-picked in a completely nontransparent and somewhat arbitrary
> way. Let me hasten to add that that was ok to get things going, but we
> cannot get stuck there. 

The other problem is that it is a square peg for a round hole.  It is 
inconsistent that there should be a hierarchical governing structure for 
a non-hierarchical governance network.

The strong element of hierarchy lies in that decision-making power is 
formally vested in one person: the Secretary-General of the United 
Nations (and in practice, in his advisers).  The United Nations has 
(some) supranational authority over governments, but it has no 
legitimate authority whatever over civil society or the private sector.

Therefore there is no reason of principle why the IGF, as a 
multi-stakeholder governance network incorporating all of these 
stakeholder groups as equals, should be led by an intergovernmental 
organisation.

It is only for this reason why I would like the option of a lowercase-b 
bureau in which all stakeholder groups act as equals in making decisions 
about the IGF, rather than merely acting as advisers to the UN Secretary 
General, to be considered for the longer term.

I do realise that in the shorter term it is politically impracticable. 
But that doesn't mean we can't and shouldn't call for it...

-- 
Jeremy Malcolm LLB (Hons) B Com
Internet and Open Source lawyer, IT consultant, actor
host -t NAPTR 1.0.8.0.3.1.2.9.8.1.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'
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