[Mmwg] Combining models

[Milton Mueller]

>>> Vittorio Bertola <vb at bertola.eu.org> 1/18/2006 6:28 AM >>>
>I'm starting to wonder whether trusting a few well
>respected people to make a choice isn't better than trying to
>incapsulate a hugely fragmented and diverse world, such as civil
>society, into complex formal structures.

Of course it is, as an initial bootstrap! Two qualifications, however: 

1) Carefully define what the initial "choices" are, to limit them to a minimum, and 

2) After the initial choices are made, make sure there are ongoing feedback and accountability mechanisms that permit IGF participants to alter or influence those choices down the road, and that prevent structural capture. 

I am glad we agree that "complex formal structures" that purport to "represent" the world are a bad idea. 

>Otherwise, we could try again with online elections, or mixed mechanisms
>(more on this later).

Global online elections for administration of an internet discussion forum seems like overkill to me -- and I am one of the most avid advocates of online global elections for ICANN's Board. Given the minimal hard power IGF will have, these institutional design decisions are easier than with ICANN, but still need to be made with care.