Re: [wg-review] The Number 1 Problem

["Chris McElroy" <watch-dog@inreach.com>]

It seems to me that in order to properly discuss this, the first question
should be; To Consensus or not to Concensus? That is the first question. I
see others here that have stated they do not believe this is this answer,
yet others who post as if it has already been decided that how to build a
consensus is what we should be discussing.

I suggest we start with whether or not to use this type of process before
discussing the how to.

Chris McElroy aka NameCritic


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kent Crispin" <kent@songbird.com>
To: "wg Review list" <wg-review@dnso.org>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 7:37 AM
Subject: Re: [wg-review] The Number 1 Problem


> On Thu, Jan 04, 2001 at 11:38:48AM -0700, Greg Burton wrote:
>
> > Consensus is more than a word, it's a process and methodology. It
currently
> > appears that there has been no training or education in consensus
process
> > for members of the NC, for constituencies, or for WG chairs. In some
> > constituencies, this may not be required - in others it could be
extremely
> > valuable. Expecting people to adequately facilitate a consensus process
> > without understanding how consensus works and what can be done as
technique
> > is absurd.
>
> As Phil states, this is easy to agree with.  However, it does not get to
> the root of the problem.  The root of the problem is that despite the
> mandate from the white paper and elsewhere, there are those (Milton has
> expressed this view) who simply oppose the consensus model.  Karl
> Auerbach has been a much stronger opponent of a consensus model --
> here's a quote from the wg-d record:
>
>     Why people wave "consenus" as some sort of high and mighty thing of
>     angelic goodness is beyond me.
>
>     I consider "consensus" to be synonymous with "not accountable" and
>     suggestive of back room dealings and hidden agendas.
>
>     Let's dispense with new-age warm and fuzzy thinking about
>     "consensus" and simply run the DNSO the way that normal community
>     groups, businesses, and governments work -- with well stated rules
>     of order and clear cut voting on clear cut issues.
>
> Quoted from http://www.dnso.org/wgroups/wg-d/Arc00/msg00038.html.  Wg-d
> spent a great deal of time discussing consensus.  I'm sure that you
> would find that whole discussion very interesting, and I encourage you
> to read it.
>
> This opposition to consensus processes contradicts one of fundamental
> premise of ICANN, and tends toward a self-fulfilling prophecy, because
> this opposition is in itself an obstruction to consensus.
>
> However, the foundation meetings of the DNSO also involved a great deal
> of discussion of consensus processes, and explicitly considered the
> issue of how to deal with cases where there was deep division.  In
> particular, when a single consensus position cannot be reached, the
> total output is expected to include "minority reports".  This was done
> in the case of wg-c, for example.
>
> In our current instance, we would simply note that there is a minority
> opinion that considers consensus processes inappropriate, and pass that
> along to the NC, which in turn would pass it on to the board, along with
> any other things that we or the NC would come up with.  The board would
> then make its decisions, whatever they might be, and direct the staff to
> implement the changes in the bylaws.  If the board was influenced by the
> minority opinions, then that would be reflected in these changes.
>
> Two further comments:
>
> First of all I think it would be a good idea for people to re-read
> Article VI-B of the Bylaws, which describes the DNSO.  The concrete
> instantiation of anything good that might come out of this WG will be
> changes to that section of the Bylaws, and changes to the Bylaws are
> constrained by a number of practical factors.  Re-reading that section
> will give you a much better feel for what those constraints are.
>
> Second, at the most basic level we can define a consensus process as one
> in which small minorities have a veto.  It is a reality that there are
> some very small minorities in the ICANN orbit who have an effective
> veto.  Consequently, trying to run ICANN or the DNSO through a majority
> vote regime is simply out of touch with reality.  It is also a reality
> that there are some numerically large groups that don't have an
> effective veto, and whose influence must be manifested through the
> marketplace of ideas, and the real marketplace.  These realities are
> heavy constraints on what we can accomplish.
>
> --
> Kent Crispin                               "Be good, and you will be
> kent@songbird.com                           lonesome." -- Mark Twain
> --
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