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It is a neutral process that identifies a manageable number of
knowledgeable people concerned with an issue and provides for their
interaction in an orderly and structured manner until effective
public policy can be developed and embraced by the visible
leadership.
It is a transition process that recognizes the existence of
hierarchies ("the system") and assists them to function more
effectively in a changing society by learning and applying the art
of consultative decision making.
It is a process which enables the government manager to participate
informally, at first, without making any ccotrdtroent until he has a
chance to experience first hand the feeling of real power that
derives from consultation. He can experiment by making consultative
decisions and see how they work without premature visibility or
accountability.
It is a mechanism to deal with the realities of the "upside down
pyramid where the people really do make the policy — where
leadership is a continuous dialogue — not an act but an interaction
between leaders and followers".
It therefore contains within itself the chance to have an impact on
the legislative process in a way that will produce laws which are
designed to be implemented through consultative management rather
than litigation. This means laws which provide means for
interaction rather than compliance deadlines which are used as
target dates for litigation.
Policy Negotiation and the Erwironrnental Manager
The Center for Policy Negotiation is a nonprofit educational and
scientific organization, founded 12 years ago to help people work
together to build solutions to environmental and energy problems
which reconcile their different interests. Policy Negotiation has
been designed to help concerned individuals to define sharply a
public policy problem and then meet to develop an action plan for
resolving it.
All ccmrunication in a policy negotiation managed by the Center is
"off-the-record", yet policy negotiations are coordinated with
formal government decision making processes. In short. Policy
Negotiation is designed to help people to work within the formal
government decision making system in order to make the system work
better.
Policy Negotiation is therefore critical to decision makers who need
a comprehensive understanding of an issue before they make policy
reccnnendations. Policy Negotiation helps decision makers to build
strong constituencies and assures that policy recotinendations can be
implemented.