Multistakeholder governance model

The multistakeholder governance model, sometimes known as a multistakeholder initiative (MSI), is a governance structure that seeks to bring stakeholders together to participate in the dialogue, decision making, and implementation of solutions to common problems or goals. According to Lawrence E. Strickling, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and NTIA Administrator, "the multistakeholder process, ... involves the full involvement of all stakeholders, consensus-based decision-making and operating in an open, transparent and accountable manner." A stakeholder refers to an individual, group, or organization that has a direct or indirect interest or stake in a particular organization, these may be businesses, civil society, governments, research institutions, and non-government organizations.

Multistakeholderism is a framework and means of engagement; it is not a means of legitimization. Legitimization comes from people, from work with and among people. Multistakeholder processes could and should enhance democracy by increasing opportunities for effective participation by those most directly impacted by decisions and particularly those at the grassroots who so often are voiceless in these processes. It should enhance democracy by ensuring that decisions made are reflective of and responsive to local concerns and to the broadest range of those who must bear the consequences. It should enhance democracy by making democratic processes more flexible and responsive, able to adjust to changing contexts circumstances, technologies, impacted populations.

The multistakeholder model is used in Internet governance by entities such as the ICANN and IETF and has been the foundation of local governance entities such as New York City's Community Boards.

Norbert Bollow, co-coordinator on the Civil Society Internet Governance Forum distinguishes between "representative" multistakeholderism, using as examples the United Nation's MAG and ECWG and "open" multistakeholderism, as represented by the IETF and RIRs.

With "representative" multistakeholderism he refers to groups in which a limited number of seats are distributed to representatives of particular stakeholder categories who are then assumed to bring a reasonable approximation of the totality of perspectives of that stakeholder category into the discussion. In representative multistakeholderism, the selection processes are critically important. The potential problem of inappropriate "intimacy" exists not only between government officials and lobbyists, but also in the selection processes.

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