[governance] Nomcom and conflict of interest

[Jeremy Malcolm]

On 24/05/2008, at 11:13 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:

> I'm interested in hearing more about how you all react to these points
> of mine:
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Maybe we don't even need a MAG, we just need more open consultations,
>> and some volunteers to help the Secretariat with the execution of  
>> goals
>> and plans.
>>
>> I think the MAG has become a target for an increasingly unhealthy  
>> bunch
>> of political fights. Maybe we can just get rid of it altogether.


No, that will centralise (even) more power in the unrepresentative  
Secretariat.  In my work on remote participation, I've seen how the  
Secretariat very shrewdly picks and chooses what volunteer help to  
embrace and what to silently shun and thereby sideline.

It is also easier for the Secretariat to palm off the recommendations  
of the open consultations to the Secretary-General (a fiction, of  
course) so that it can disclaim responsibility for the dismissal of  
those recommendations.  Harder for it to ignore a clear resolution of  
the Advisory Group, whose numbers and constituencies are known and  
fixed.  (Still not impossible, though; case in point, the Chairman  
shutting down discussion within the Advisory Group of any variation to  
the 50% representation of governments.)

For all its manifest faults, at least the Advisory Group, now that it  
has increased its transparency thorough reports of its meetings and  
mailing list summaries, is somewhat more accountable than the  
Secretariat alone.

-- 
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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