[governance] Democracy and IG (was Re: Text of Parminder's input)

[Norbert Bollow]

On Tue, 22 Dec 2015 10:59:37 +0000
Mawaki Chango <kichango at gmail.com> wrote:

> The reluctance from some to apply the
> category of democracy to Internet governance stems from the
> limitations (and risks? dangers?) of democracy in their eyes.

At least in my understanding of those those viewpoints, they are not
primarily intended to be anti-democratic and in fact I'm sure that many
of the proponents of those viewpoints see themselves as being firmly
pro-democratic.

IMO the fears and concerns in relation to JNC and others insisting
that like all other areas of governance, Internet governance must of
course be democratic, arise from the following two facts:

1) It is hard to imagine an implementation of the principles of
democracy that would not be state-based.

2) So far the track record of state actions in relation to the Internet
is really, really bad, both for democratic and for non-democratic
states.

> Is
> there a thoughtful - and as comprehensive as possible - articulation
> of those limitations, risks and/or dangers to be found somewhere? Do
> we think the two sets of concerns are irreconcilable?

IMO it is certainly possible to create governance mechanisms that are
suitable for Internet governance and other global concerns, and which
are at the same time democratic and conductive to achieving good
results.

I have a concrete proposal at http://wisdomtaskforce.org/

Greetings,
Norbert

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