Policy Learning in Multistakeholder Settings: The Case of Internet Governance

Increasingly global governance settings including, for example, environment, health and internet governance, include use of the term 'multistakeholder'. There is scant work on policy learning in multistakeholder arenas related to internet governance. Reporting on a decade of work on the field of internet governance policy, this paper provides both a conceptual framework and in-depth analysis of policy learning in the interorganizational and cross-cultural environment of multistakeholderism in the case of cross-national internet policy. The conceptual framework utilizes concepts from communication theory (including cross-cultural communication), political science, and interorganizational sociology. It highlights hindering and facilitating factors for cross-cultural and cross-sector policy learning in the case of internet governance. Special attention is paid to the role of international organizations in multistakeholder policy learning across several internet policy issues over time.