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[ga] RE: Announce: Best Practices - Part II, Flow Chart
Title: Announce: Best Practices - Part II, Flow Chart
Joanna/William,
My apologies for
taking so long to review and respond to the work you have done. I
definitely support your efforts and from what I have seen so far I think you are
on a very good track for defining operational procedures for the
GA.
Chuck
BEST PRACTICES -
Part II (Flow Chart) is now published at:-
HTML version:
http://www.paradigm.nu/~istakeholder/flowchart.htm
PDF version:
http://www.paradigm.nu/~istakeholder/flowchart.pdf (466 Kb)
Zipped PDF
version: http://www.paradigm.nu/~istakeholder/flowchart.zip (234
Kb)
_____________________________________________________________________
This
is best reviewed together with Part I - (Introduction, Principles and
Definitions), copied below.
Part III - (Timeline Guide), which gives the
optimum time that should be allowed for each process to take place, is work in
progess that will be published in due course.
______________________________________________________________________
BEST PRACTICES - Part I
The General Assembly of ICANN is intended to serve as
an advisory body on issues important to the function of ICANN, and that lie
within the area of responsibility of the DNSO. Contributions by the
General Assembly are to be based upon a consensus of the opinions of its
members. Consensus can only be achieved, however, when there are clearly
defined ISSUES on which decisions can be based, and mechanisms that provide
all General Assembly members with the opportunity both to voice their opinions
and themselves to generate the ISSUES, and their solutions, that will be
treated. This outline, with its PRINCIPLES, DEFINITIONS, and FLOW CHART and
its associated TIME-LINES, is intended to set out a system of BEST PRACTICES
that will provide that mechanism.
By following these BEST PRACTICES, it is believed
that:-
(a) substantive decisions can be reached more expeditiously;
(b) participants in the process can see positive results from their
contributions, and thus feel more to be a part of the functioning of ICANN;
and
(c) the factual BASIS underlying an ultimate VOTE to be taken will
have been provided, and the course of the process will have been fully
demonstrated, whereby the result of that VOTE will be accorded the full
respect that is its due.
In short, these BEST PRACTICES are intended to set out
a systematic process in which the occurrence of vigorous DISCUSSION and DEBATE
is there for all to see, the formulation therefrom of a definite position is
achieved, and a final VOTE that reaches a conclusion is taken, thus to provide
weight to and evidence for a legitimate claim of consensus within the General
Assembly.
CALL FOR ACTION
The general thrust of
these BEST PRACTICES centers on a single concept -- the CALL FOR ACTION which,
if followed through to a conclusion, will result in a MOTION being put to a
VOTE of the full membership of the General Assembly. These BEST PRACTICES are
intended to help direct activity of the General Assembly to achieve that goal,
through steps that will give every voice an opportunity to be heard, while at
the same time avoiding fractionating or splintering of the effort, in each
case by keeping the focus of General Assembly members on the ISSUE at hand.
This
procedure is simple enough that its administration could be carried out by a
GA SECRETARIAT, or by any person who would not himself or herself hold strong
views on the ISSUE at hand, but would simply facilitate in an impartial
manner.
PRINCIPLES
Participants recognize that
the work of the General Assembly in general, commencing with a Memberšs CALL
FOR ACTION, is driven by a set of PRINCIPLES. The design of these BEST
PRACTICES has been based upon the principle that both the mechanism itself and
the TIME-LINES established therewith will ensure that the overall process
shall:
1.
Be participatory
2. Be sustainable
3. Be legitimate and accessible to
people
4. Be transparent
5. Be able to develop the resources and methods
of a General Assembly
6. Be able to mobilize necessary resources and
expertise
7. Be efficient and effective in resource use
8. Engender and
command respect and trust
9. Be accountable to the public trust
10. Be
able to define and take ownership of recommended actions
11. Be enabling
and facilitative
12. Be regulatory rather than controlling
13. Be able
to deal with temporal issues
14. Be service oriented
STANDARD
DEFINITIONS
Efficient communication between members of a General
Assembly that is operating worldwide in an on-line environment, using email
lists as its primary tool, requires a common understanding of the words used
to describe its BEST PRACTICES. Listed in alphabetical order.
- AMENDMENT: A change in wording in a
PROPOSAL or MOTION that does not annul its essential
point.
- BASIS: On-line description of
purported facts that underlie some particular ISSUE, that explains why there
is a need for action, indicates the nature and extent of action being
sought, and how that action would resolve the ISSUE and impact current
operations, thus justifying the formulation of a PROPOSAL or the offering of
a MOTION.
- CALL FOR ACTION: A demand that action be taken
with regard to an ISSUE.
- DEBATE: On-line exchange of comment
concerning the merits of a formal PROPOSAL or a
MOTION.
- DISCUSSION: On-line exchange of
comments concerning some matter of importance in the functioning of ICANN
that lies within the scope of responsibility of the General Assembly, that
clarifies an ISSUE and examines the BASIS therefor, typically
arising from one or more SUGGESTIONS, CALLS FOR ACTION and from which may
arise the formulation of a definitive PROPOSAL.
- FLOW CHART: A graphic representation
of processes that make up the various procedures of the General Assembly and
how they may fit together; used to determine TIME-LINES for dealing with
ISSUES.
- GA SECRETARIAT: An office charged
with the administration of voting procedures, including the setting of
TIME-LINES to assist the General Assembly with addressing ISSUES in a timely
fashion according to BEST PRACTICES.
- INVESTIGATION: A search for and
compilation of documents and the like so as to help provide a BASIS for a
PROPOSAL or MOTION.
- ISSUE: A condition of fact thought
to exist on which it is believed that some action may be
required.
- MOTION: A formal, declarative call
for action on some issue, phrased so as to be amenable to being either
accepted or rejected, and being in an agreed-upon form that could be
presented to the General Assembly for a VOTE. A MOTION results from
RECOGNITION of a PROPOSAL to be ready to act on, agreeing on its wording,
and then advancing it.
- POLL: An informal request for a
"yes-no" expression of opinion on some ISSUE, or a selection of options.
- PROPONENT(S): The author(s) of a
PROPOSAL, MOTION, AMENDMENT, or SUBSTITUTE MOTION, who shall develop and
PUBLISH the BASIS therefor.
- PROPOSAL: A formal, declarative call
for action on some ISSUE, phrased so as to be amenable to being either
accepted or rejected; expected to result from a DISCUSSION of a SUGGESTION.
A PROPOSAL is DEBATED, then in agreed-upon form rises to the level of
a MOTION.
- PUBLISH: To post on an appropriate
mailing list.
- RECOGNITION: The act of PUBLISHING a
declaration that a particular PROPOSAL, MOTION, AMENDMENT, or SUBSTITUTE
MOTION has entered into the FLOW CHART.
- REPORT: A communication requested
and received, in the course of a DISCUSSION or DEBATE, in which a member
sets out the result of an INVESTIGATION into some factual background of an
ISSUE; also a statement of the result of a VOTE.
- SECOND: An expression by at least
one person other than the PROPONENT of a MOTION, AMENDMENT or SUBSTITUTE
MOTION that is in favor thereof.
- SUBSTITUTE MOTION: A MOTION
offered to replace an existing MOTION, and that annuls the central point of
the original MOTION.
- SUGGESTION: An expression that there
may exist some problem, some useful course of action, or any other matter
that falls within the scope of the DNSO. It is expected that the interchange
of suggestions through DISCUSSION will result in establishing an ISSUE that
may develop into a PROPOSAL.
- TIME-LINE: A schedule that results
from a CALL FOR ACTION that allows for specific tasks to be performed in
accordance with the FLOW CHART and TIME-LINE GUIDE.
- TIME-LINE GUIDE: An agreed-upon
minimum, optimum and maximum duration for each of the procedures of the
General Assembly as identified in the FLOW CHART, from time to time amended
as necessary. The credibility of any result from a CALL FOR ACTION depends
upon the fairness and timeliness (whether slow or fast) by which
each
process is carried out.
- VOTE: The formal procedure for
determining the passage or not of a MOTION.
prepared by William
S. Lovell and Joanna Lane Last revised Sunday, July 15,
2001
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