[governance] Shared Decision Making Procedures

Tue Apr 16 12:59:32 EDT 2013

This thread is very enlightening. But, Bertrand, I would like to ask you
for one clarification over the following statement: "The challenge today is
to refine the mechanisms that allow to manage shared international
resources and cross-border online spaces, not to reimpose a rigid
separation of westphalian sovereignties and the exclusive responsibility of
diplomats to define global governance regimes. "

How should one deal with the fact that the "definition of global governance
regimes" is, itself, an integral part of public policy making within
national jurisdictions as well?

Regards
Diego

On Wed, Apr 3, 2013 at 3:52 PM, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:

>  ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Bertrand de La Chapelle [mailto:bdelachapelle at gmail.com]
>
> ****
>
> As we all know, this famous paragraph says: ****
>
> ** **
>
>  *Policy authority for Internet-related public policy issues is the
> sovereign right of States. They have rights and responsibilities for
> international Internet-related public policy issues. (aka IRPPI)*****
>
>  ** **
>
> There are two sentences here. Not just one, but two sentences. And this
> has to be meaningful. ****
>
> ** **
>
> The paragraph could easily have read : "Policy authority for national and
> international Internet-related public policy issues is the sovereign right
> of states". That would have closed the debate and left no room for
> interpretation. But this is not what is written. ****
>
> ** **
>
> MM: ****
>
> Bertrand. ****
>
> First, I forgive you for creating a new acronym that vies for recognition
> as one of the world's ugliest: IIRPPI. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Now, I cannot go along with these kinds of verbal games as a guide to what
> governments intended or, more importantly, what governments actually
> believe and try to enact. It is just wishful thinking.****
>
> ** **
>
> As a matter of linguistic interpretation, your argument rests on very
> shaky ground. The basic subject of the sentence is the term "policy
> authority." Not "domestic" or "international" policy authority, just
> "policy authority." The term "Internet-related public policy issues" could
> easily be read to mean ALL internet-related public policy issues, both
> domestic and international. There is a bald assertion that "policy
> authority for IRPPI is the sovereign right of states." Not domestic IRPPI,
> just IRPPI.  Therefore your idea (and this is the first time I have ever
> heard that interpretation) that the first sentence applies to domestic and
> the second to international is very _*creative*_ shall we say. But not
> convincing. At all.****
>
> ** **
>
> Further, we have tons of other contexts in which to interpret the claim of
> "policy authority" or the idea that "public policy" is the exclusive domain
> of states. Let's take, for starters, ICANN's own bylaws. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Section 2.1.a. of Article XI says ****
>
> **a.       **The Governmental Advisory Committee should consider and
> provide advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of
> governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between
> ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where
> they may affect public policy issues.****
>
> ** **
>
> Note that this section specifically mentions "laws, international
> agreements or….public policy issues." In other words, PP is distinct from
> law and international agreements and there is no distinction in GAC's
> mandate between domestic and international; indeed, since everything ICANN
> does is de facto global, the concept of "public policy" in its bylaws MUST
> apply to international or global pp. ****
>
> ** **
>
> And you know as well as I that in the ICANN context GAC's trump card is
> the PP word. All they have to do is claim that something is PP and they get
> to claim authority over the final outcome. At which point GAC becomes
> nothing more than an intergovernmental organization that dictates PP - only
> it is, in fact, far worse than any IGO because it is governed by no law,
> subject to no treaty ratification process, and can make decisions that
> violate the constitutions of specific countries while giving citizens of
> those countries no legal recourse.****
>
> ** **
>
> And how about this WCIT resolution - unsuccessful, to be sure, but
> reflecting what the sovereigntist states really think and believe. There
> was a motion in Dubai to add the following phrase to the International
> Telecommunication Regulations: ****
>
> ** **
>
> "3A.3 Member states shall have the sovereign right to establish and
> implement public policy, including international policy, on matters of
> Internet governance…."****
>
> ** **
>
> Our point of disagreement does not seem to be substantive, in that we
> would both like to clear a space for new, more open, non-governmental
> policy making institutions. Where we disagree - and it is an important
> disagreement - is that you seem to think we have already succeeded in
> transcending the sovereigntist mindset, and I do not. ****
>
> ** **
>
> I think we are still deeply engaged in a major long term struggle over
> that principle. We need to explicitly recognize that we are in that
> struggle and not twist the words of the TA to make it seem as if we have
> already won. I also think that we are in danger of losing that battle
> because a very large segment of the people trying to move away from the
> governmental paradigm are not thinking clearly about it. They are relying
> on flawed, wrong statements of principle such as the Tunis Agenda or,
> worse, mouthing platitudes about "The Multistakeholder Model" when there is
> no single, well-defined MuSH model and the issue of whether MuSH gives
> states exclusive authority over "public policy" making and confines other
> SH to "their respective roles" is still a topic of intense debate. ****
>
> ** **
>
> In a nutshell, the global public interest is not the mere aggregation of
> national interests; national governments are very legitimate *local*authorities but at best, assemblies of government representatives are, at
> the global level, the equivalent of a Senate in bi-cameral parliamentary
> systems; for a truly democratic international system, a more direct
> involvement of citizens at the global level is necessary (and it is made
> possible by the development of communication tools and transportation);
> their respective governments cannot keep the monopoly of representation of
> their interests.****
>
> ** **
>
> Here we are in violent agreement - although I would not even give states
> the status of a separate house in a bi-cameral political structure. States
> do not have rights but are merely delegates of individuals - would you
> propose also a "corporation house"? I think individuals who happen to work
> for governments can and should participate on the same basis as everyone
> else. As in, e.g., the IETF. ****
>
>        ****
>
> Considering that all internet-related issues should be dealt within a
> single international organization can only lead to a sterile and protracted
> competition between potential candidate institutions and no solution to
> concrete challenges. The only viable approach is rather to build on the
> concept of distributed governance frameworks, and build issue-based
> governance networks, associating in a transparent and accountable manner
> the "relevant stakeholders".****
>
> ** **
>
> Yes, networks focused on specific issues.****
>
> ** **
>
> What those frameworks are, what form their establishment takes (Mutual
> Affirmation of Commitments?), how the "relevant stakeholders" are
> determined, how the decision-making procedures function, etc... are the
> real and very exciting challenges. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Agreed.****
>
> ** **
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>      governance at lists.igcaucus.org
> To be removed from the list, visit:
>      http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
>
> For all other list information and functions, see:
>      http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
> To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>      http://www.igcaucus.org/
>
> Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
>
>

-- 
Diego R. Canabarro
http://lattes.cnpq.br/4980585945314597

--
diego.canabarro [at] ufrgs.br
diego [at] pubpol.umass.edu
MSN: diegocanabarro [at] gmail.com
Skype: diegocanabarro
Cell # +55-51-9244-3425 (Brasil) / +1-413-362-0133 (USA)
--
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20130416/2e15ad47/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t