[governance] RE: [discuss] What is MSism?

[Karl Auerbach]

On 03/27/2014 07:16 AM, michael gurstein wrote:

> That paper does provide some clarity while overall reinforcing my central
> point  -- multistakeholderism transfers power to the beneficiaries of the
> Internet and away from the democracy that gives protection to everyone else.

I agree with your formulation.

Stakeholderism certainly does transfer power.

Stakeholderim is a rebuke not only to the notion that governance derives
from the consent of the governed but also to the principle of
one-person-one-vote.

One of the very perverse outcomes from stakeholder systems is that
opinion becomes ossified and compromise is impeded (or prevented.)

In systems where individuals are recognized as the primary element then
nuances of opinion are more readily recognized which in turn leads to
fluid coalitions and a greater institutional capacity to form
compromises or to find imaginative new solutions.

There is no doubt that individual people gain power by cooperating and
joining their voices.  Every system should allow fluid formation and
dissolution of coalitions.  But stakeholderism dictates up-front and
top-down how that joinder shall occur and makes it permanent and inflexible.

Perhaps stakeholderism is simply an optimization?  Many regulatory
bodies end up captured by those who have financial interests in the
outcome.  Stakeholderism simply skips the phase where the regulatory
body has not yet been captured and, thus, quickly and efficiently puts
the special interests into the drivers seat.

Stakeholderism transfers power, yes, but not necessarily to
"beneficiaries."  Rather, using ICANN as the baseline, stakeholderism
transfers power to groups that someone has declared have a greater
interest in the outcome than do others.  That interest is usually
financial (often an indirect financial interest - such as trademark
interests) but it also based on tribute to perceived external
authorities such as governments or selected technical bodies.

In the main I find stakeholderism to be a poisonous conception - a kind
of return to the medieval system of governance by church and guild.

	--karl--




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