$0.00 – $6.50
Jeffrey Litwak and Lawrence Susskind
Six-person, multi-issue facilitated negotiation among industry, environmental, consumer/community, labor, and government representatives to develop single-text regulation of toxic industrial by-product
SCENARIO:
Dirty Stuff is an industrial by-product of a large number of industrial processes that has recently found to have harmful health side-effects. A first meeting was convened at which a representative from environmental organizations, labor unions, industry groups, community groups and consumer groups would attend in order to discuss how Dirty Stuff is to be regulated. This meeting ended abruptly and in a highly emotional and hostile fashion – a fact which has become reported in the press. A second meeting has been convened and the various factions have agreed to enlist the help of a facilitator. The goal of the upcoming second meeting is to revise the proposed rule regarding the production and use of Dirty Stuff. This will be published in The Federal Register.
MAJOR LESSONS:
- This exercise illustrates how an angry party can alter the tone or balance of a multiparty negotiation or create difficulties for a facilitator.
- With such a wide range of possible agreements, the comparison of several groups' outcomes can demonstrate the usefulness of generating options. Some groups, however, might not reach agreement.
- The facilitator may be asked to mediate or alternatively may simply act as a meeting manager and stay out of the negotiations, depending on how the parties act.
- Caucusing can lead to the formation of blocking coalitions. The effect of caucusing on the prospects of reaching agreements can be compared across groups.
- The usefulness of a single negotiating text is illustrated. This gives parties a focal point for discussion and a tool for recording the evolving agreement. This can clarify differences and help parties structure packages or trade-offs more creatively.
- Contingent agreements may hold the key to dealing with technical uncertainty.
MECHANICS:
This exercise is written to include six roles, however, more than one person may be assigned to any role. Players have 45 minutes to prepare, including time for caucusing between parties with the same role. Actual negotiations should take less than 90 minutes. Debriefing will require at least 45 minutes to compare and discuss outcomes.
TEACHING MATERIALS:
For all parties:
- General Information
- Draft of the Proposed Rule
- Article from newspaper
- Fact about DirtyStuff Cleanup technologies
Role specific:
Confidential Advice to
- Agency Negotiator
- Consumer Negotiator
- Environmental Coalition Negotiator
- Industry Negotiator
- Labor Negotiator
- Facilitator
Teacher's Package:
- All of the above
THEMES:
Agenda control; Bluffing; Caucusing; Coalitions; Communication; Competition v. Cooperation; Compliance; Consensus building; Creativity; Decision analysis; Drafting; Fairness; Group process; Information exchange; Interest analysis; Joint gains; Meaning of "success"; Mediation; Options, generating; Packaging; Partisan perceptions; Public opinion; Relationship; Risk aversion; Yesable propositions
KEYWORDS:
Negotiated rule-making; simple text negotiation; facilitation; science-intensive policy disputes; using contingent agreements to cope with scientific uncertainty
SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:
Dirty Stuff I
Dioxin – Waste to Energy
Teflex Products
The Carson Extension
DirtyStuff II Attributes
| Time required: | 2-3 hours |
|---|---|
| Number of participants: | 6 |
| Teams involved: | No |
| Agent present: | Non-lawyer |
| Neutral third party present: | Facilitator |
| Scoreable: | No |
| Teaching notes available: | No |
| Non-English version available: | French, Spanish, German |
