The Purpose of Constituencies?

[David Cake]

	The purpose of constituencies seemed clear enough to me when
I joined NCUC- they were primarily what I would have described as a
caucus, a place for people with shared goals to come together and try
to achieve their goals within the context of ICANN.

	NCSG charter has changed that. Much as the board/SIC made a
big song and dance about deviating from the traditional constituency
model for NCUCs preferred Interest Group model, we have non-exclusive
constituencies, which is a significant change from the old model.
That kind of changes things. I suspect that any new constituencies
that spring out of NCUC will effectively be interest groups. I'm not
quite sure what purpose 'soft' constituencies, not directly tied to
any resources (except perhaps a Non-com rep) serve. I guess we will
all discover it.
	I don't really see much point to an academic constituency in
the old model - NCUC has academic members, there seems no need for a
separate group for their concerns. In the new model, in which it is
possible to participate in more than one constituency? Who knows.
Perhaps an academic constituency which consists mostly of academics
who also participate in other constituencies could have other roles.
	Cheers
		David