The Operation of Multistakeholderism in Brazilian Internet Governance: Governance Innovation through multistakeholderism generativity

The thesis examines the operation of multistakeholderism in the Brazilian Internet governance system. It investigates how multistakeholderism operates in Internet policy-making processes and what are the effects of this operation in governance and regulatory instruments. The thesis focuses on and unpacks the elements and interactions that constitute and support the operation of multistakeholderism in Internet policy-making in Brazil. It looks at key governance structures, practices and processes analysing policy-making processes operated under a multistakeholder perspective to identify and explain the underlying elements, rationale and effects of this innovative policy-making approach. To investigate in depth what elements and configurations underpin the operation of multistakeholderism in Internet policymaking, the thesis explores, under a case study perspective, three governance practices where the operation of multistakeholderism was developed in the Brazilian Internet governance context. It observes multistakeholderism policy-making operational rationale in an international scenario influenced by the need to develop a soft-law regulatory instrument and the behaviour of stakeholders with different cultural, economic and legal values. Borrowing ideas and findings from socio-legal studies on governance and on Internet governance and applying a multi-dimensional policy-making approach, the thesis analyses these three governance practices and identifies that the operational rationale supporting multistakeholderism policymaking is based on mechanisms combining and balancing three interconnected elements: inclusion, expertise and consensus. The thesis also suggests that this policymaking mechanism is heavily influenced by a consensual orientation rationale able to mediate the contrasting tensions between inclusion and expertise at the same time that it stimulates policy cross-fertilisation and governance innovation. Unpacking these observations and findings, the thesis proposes the term 'multistakeholderism generativity' in order to illustrate its suggestion that multistakeholderism, when operated under optimal conditions, instrumentalise policy-making practices to support more innovative and legitimate governance and regulatory processes.