[governance] new paper on Multistakeholder Internet Governance

[Carolina Rossini]

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2354377

DeNardis, Dr. Laura and Raymond, Mark, Thinking Clearly About
Multistakeholder Internet Governance (November 14, 2013). Available at
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=

*Abstract: *
Efforts to study and practice Internet governance start, virtually without
exception, from the premise that the Internet is governed by an innovative,
unusual (perhaps unique) ‘multistakeholder’ model. Preserving that model is
a primary goal for the broader Internet community as well as for many
governments, though not for all. Viewing multistakeholderism as a
teleological goal for Internet governance creates several problems. First,
multistakeholderism is often elevated as a value in itself rather than as a
possible approach to meeting more salient public interest objectives such
as preserving Internet interoperability, stability, security, and openness.
Second, multistakeholder governance may not be appropriate in every
functional area of Internet governance. Internet coordination is not a
monolithic practice but rather a multilayered series of tasks of which some
are appropriately relegated to the private sector, some the purview of
traditional nation-state governance or international treaty negotiations,
and some more appropriately multistakeholder. It is a misnomer to speak not
only of multistakeholder governance but also of Internet governance as a
single thing.

The concept of multistakeholderism can also serve as a proxy for broader
political struggles or be deployed as an impediment to the types of
Internet coordination necessary to promote conditions of responsible
governance. For example, governments with repressive information policies
can advocate for top-down and formalized multistakeholderism to gain
additional power in areas in which they have traditionally not had
jurisdiction. These types of efforts can result in multilateral rather than
multistakeholder approaches with non-governmental actors limited from
participating in formal deliberations and lacking any meaningful voting
power. Alternatively, companies and other actors with vested interests in
current governance arrangements can deploy multistakeholderism in a manner
either meant to exclude new entrants (whether public or private) with
incommensurate interests and values or to preserve incumbent market
advantage.

This paper suggests that multistakeholderism should not be viewed as a
value in itself applied homogenously to all Internet governance functions.
Rather, the appropriate approach to responsible Internet governance
requires determining what types of administration are optimal for promoting
a balance of interoperability, innovation, free expression and operational
stability in any particular functional and political context. Doing so
requires conceptual and theoretical tools that have not yet been developed.
Accordingly, the paper proceeds in three parts. First, it presents a more
granular taxonomy and understanding of Internet governance functions –
differentiating between, for example, cybersecurity governance, Internet
standards setting, and the policymaking function of private information
intermediaries. Second, it performs the same task of disaggregation with
respect to multistakeholderism. It presents distinct varieties of
multistakeholder Internet governance (which differ according to the
varieties of actors involved and the nature of authority relations between
them) and sets these arrangements in a broader context of modalities for
accomplishing global governance in other issue areas. Such an approach
contributes both to the study and practice of Internet governance, and to
scholarship in International Relations and global governance.

-- 
*Carolina Rossini*
*Project Director, Latin America Resource Center*
Open Technology Institute
*New America Foundation*
//
http://carolinarossini.net/
+ 1 6176979389
*carolina.rossini at gmail.com*
skype: carolrossini
@carolinarossini
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