[governance] JPA

[Garth Graham]

On 27-May-09, at 7:08 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:
> Jeanette, it may just be your phrasing, but I fear that you make  
> the same mistake that WSIS and so many others dealing with the  
> accountability problem have made. You think of accountability as  
> residing in an external "body" i.e. an organization, rather than in  
> rules or laws. This approach has two inherent problems:
>   1) once it is put in place, everyone ignores ICANN and reaches  
> directly for influence within that "body" (further undermining  
> ICANN's already tenuous bottom up)
>   2) the creation of the body just reproduces all the existing  
> politics within ICANN, with no guarantees that the result will be  
> any better. (infinite recursion).


True, accountability is a function of the organization that acts -  
not some oversight body.  But it also begins before the fact of  
acting - with clear statements of intentions.  Thus the standard of  
evaluation can and should evolve dynamically from its operating  
environment and not just statically as in "rules or laws."

"For every important responsibility there is accountability. Public  
accountability is the obligation to answer publicly, fully and  
fairly, for the discharge of responsibilities that affect the public  
in important ways. Responsibility is the obligation to act, which is  
obviously related to accountability, but it is conceptually different  
from accountability, the obligation to answer. While the answering  
obligation attaches to all significant responsibilities, the key is  
getting the answering. The answering is for intentions as well as  
results. When responsibilities affect the public in important ways,  
the decision-makers' answering must be public. And it is the  
governing bodies of organizations, not employee CEOs and managers,  
who have the obligation to account to the public. ...  Holding to  
account also includes validating the answering whenever this is  
prudent under the precautionary principle. Validation of the  
answering means independent assessment (audit) of its fairness and  
completeness by people who can competently assess it."  Henry  
McCandless. A Citizen's Guide to Public Accountability. http:// 
www.accountabilitycircle.org/index.html

GG
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