A Practical Guide to Consensus

Chris Carlson and Jim Arthur. Policy Consensus Institute.

This 75-page step-by-step handbook walks readers through the stages of sponsoring, organizing, and participating in a public policy consensus process. Designed primarily for government agencies or departments, the guide also is useful for any other sponsor of - or participant in - a consensus building process.

Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org

Center for Collaborative Policy

The Center is a joint program of California State University, Sacramento and the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. The mission of the Center is to build the capacity of public agencies, stakeholder groups, and the public to use collaborative strategies to improve policy outcomes. The Center produces a quarterly newsletter called The Collaborative Edge.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/

Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems

Barbara Gray. Jossey-Bass, 1989.

Veteran mediator Barbara Gray presents an innovative approach to successfully mediating multi-party disputes. A superb resource for managers, public officials and others working to solve complex problems such as labor disputes, disposal of toxic wastes, racial integration, and the use of biotechnology.

Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1555421598.html

Collaborative Democracy Network

A network of over 100 interdisciplinary and international scholars has been established to focus on the need to enhance the role of deliberative and collaborative methods in democratic governance. The goal of the network is to collaborate on research and theory building to strengthen the capacity of democratic governance institutions to produce better public policy. The Collaborative Democracy Network is being coordinated by the Center for Collaborative Policy at California State University Sacramento.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/cdn/

Collaborative Edge Newsletter

Center for Collaborative Policy at Ca. State University Sacramento.

As collaborative strategies and methods grow more important in dealing with complex and 'wicked' public policy issues, information about cutting edge developments in collaboration methods becomes more essential. The Collaborative Edge, an internet-based newsletter, provides timely information on collaborative strategies and methods to public agencies, civic organizations, and the public. Each quarterly edition includes articles on success stories, tool kits, challenging issues, and news and resources.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/

Collaborative Governance in the CALFED Program: Adaptive Policy Making for California Water

Judith E. Innes, Sarah Connick, Laura Kaplan, and David E. Booher.

A new, collaborative model of governance has emerged in the CALFED program, which manages much of California's vast water system. This model emerged out of many years of dialogue among the state's major stakeholders and public agency leaders frustrated by the inability of traditional governance by the three branches - executive, legislative and judicial - to establish significant policy to address the competing needs of the environment and urban and agricultural water users. This paper reports on our research into the history, logic, and workings of this evolving program from its inception as an informal memorandum among agencies in 1994 to its 2004 incarnation with a formal, legislatively established oversight authority.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/WP-2006-01.pdf

Collaborative Governance: A Guide for Grantmakers

Doug Henton and John Melville (Collaborative Economics), with Terry Amsler and Malka Kopell (Hewlett Foundation). The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2006.

This 47-page guide focuses on collaborative governance, an emerging set of concepts and practices that offer prescriptions for inclusive, deliberative, and often consensus-oriented approaches to planning, problem solving, and policymaking. Collaborative governance typically describes those processes in which government actors are participants and/or objects of the processes.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Collaborative_Governance.pdf

Common Ground: Center for Cooperative Solutions, UC Davis Extension

For more than 10 years, Common Ground has been a leader in providing collaborative services through facilitation, mediation, negotiation and training. Our services are broad: we help government entities, agencies, private sector organizations, nonprofits, and communities come together and work out solutions to public policy issues including land use, water quality, health, education, and transportation.

Resource Link: http://www.extension.ucdavis.edu/commonground/

Deliberative Democracy Meets Dispute Resolution (DVD): Reflections and Insights from the 2005 Workshop on Deliberative Democracy and Dispute Resolution

Carri Hulet (producer), under the supervision of Lawrence Susskind. Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, 2006.

The Workshop on Deliberative Democracy and Dispute Resolution was a two-day conference held in June 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The event brought together 30 individuals who share a common interest in civic engagement, but represent two distinct fields that approach the project very differently. One group included public dispute resolution professionals; the other, political theorists and innovative practitioners of deliberative democracy. This 2.5-hour DVD attempts to capture the most interesting moments of dialogue from this workshop in order to illustrate the overlaps and divisions of opinion both between and within the respective fields.

Resource Link: http://www.pon.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=394

Evaluation Report: California Mediated Public Policy on Physician-Assisted Suicide and End-of-Life Issues

Center for Collaborative Policy, 2002.

At the request of the California State Assembly Select Committee on Palliative Care, a group of nineteen stakeholders and interested individuals assembled in a mediated process to discuss end of life issues. This group met beginning November 1, 2001, and convened nine times before ending in June 2002 with a final report. This report is an evaluation of the dialogue using a methodology appropriate for such consensus seeking dialogue processes.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/Devolution_CCP_2004.pdf

Federal Dispute Resolution: Using ADR with the United States Government

Jeffrey M. Senger. Jossey-Bass, 2003.

This guide to using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in matters involving the federal government is appropriate for anyone involved in the ADR process, including those who represent the government and those who have disputes with the government. In a highly accessible format, Federal Dispute Resolution offers valuable information about the benefits of the ADR process and outlines the laws and regulations that govern this new field. The book includes instructions on how to determine which disputes are best suited to ADR and how to select the type of ADR process that is most appropriate for a particular situation. It also includes step-by-step guidance on how to prepare for ADR and offers suggestions on how to advocate effectively in ADR.

Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787968587.html

Finding Better Ways to Solve Public Problems: The Emerging Role of Universities as Neutral Forums for Collaborative Policymaking

Policy Consensus Initiative, 2005.

This report describes how universities are establishing centers that serve as forums for using collaborative approaches to address public issues. The report, which is based on a survey of 42 conflict resolution and consensus building programs housed at universities in 35 states, describes one way of filling a key need identified in their research on how collaborative governance can best work. That need: a neutral forum where all sectors can come together to work on solutions to public problems. The survey was conducted in late 2004 by David Kovick.

Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org/publications/reports/docs/UniversityReport.pdf

Governing Tools for the 21st Century: How State Leaders Are Using Collaborative Problem Solving and Dispute Resolution

Policy Consensus Initiative, 2002.

The Policy Consensus Institute's 12-page overview of how state leaders are using collaborative problem solving and dispute resolution. Describes the range of ways state agencies across the country are employing these tools in their day-to-day operations.

Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org/publications/reports/docs/GoverningTools.pdf

Native Dispute Resolution Network

The Native Dispute Resolution Network is a developing resource for those seeking assistance from a collaborative conflict resolution practitioner where American Indian, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian people and environmental, natural resources or public/trust lands (including cultural property and sacred sites) issues are involved.

Resource Link: http://nativenetwork.ecr.gov

Online Public Disputes Program

The Online Public Disputes Project (OPDP) applies the tools and techniques of online dispute resolution to public policy development processes. OPDP's technology has been used in telecommunications, energy, policy setting, regulatory negotiation, urban planning and other processes around the globe.

Resource Link: http://www.publicdisputes.org

PolicyConsensus.org

Home of the Policy Consensus Initiative and the National Policy Consensus Center. The Policy Consensus Initiative is a national nonprofit organization that works with states to promote collaboration to achieve more effective governance. The National Policy Consensus Center provides assistance to state leaders in addressing difficult policy issues using consensus-based governing models.

Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org

Public Involvement in USDA Forest Service Policymaking: A Literature Review

William D. Leach, Center for Collaborative Policy. Journal of Forestry, Volume 104, No. 1, 43-49, January/February, 2006.

This article provides a brief history of public participation in the Forest Service from 1960 to present, and reviews 25 of the most significant empirical studies on the topic. Twenty one broadly defined keys to success are identified in the literature, and then organized in terms of process design traits, participant traits, and contextual traits. The most frequently cited factors in each category are, respectively, effective facilitation, active participation by agency staff, and support from agency-wide policies and administrators. Summarized findings suggest several attributes the agency can look for when selecting individuals to facilitate collaborative planning processes involving multiple stakeholders.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/public_involvement_USDA_abstract.htm

RESOLVE

RESOLVE is a leader in mediating solutions to controversial problems and broadening the techniques for consensus building on public policy issues. RESOLVE is dedicated to improving dialogue and negotiation between parties to solve complex public policy issues and to advancing both research and practice in the dispute resolution field.

Resource Link: http://www.resolv.org

To Trust an Adversary: Integrating Rational and Psychological Models of Collaborative Policymaking

William D. Leach and Paul A. Sabatier. American Political Science Review, Vol. 99, No. 4, 491-503, November, 2005.

This study explores how trust arises among policy elites engaged in prolonged face-to-face negotiations. Mirroring recent evidence that citizens?’ procedural preferences (as opposed to policy preferences) drive trust in government, we find that interpersonal trust among stakeholders in consensus-seeking partnerships is explained by the perceived legitimacy and fairness of the negotiation process moreso than by the partnership?’s track record of producing mutually agreeable policies.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/Leach_and_Sabatier_APSR_2005.pdf

Too Much Sun? Emerging Challenges Presented by California & Federal Open Meeting Legislation to Public Policy Consensus-Building Processes

Lauri Boxer-Macomber.

Public policy consensus-building processes, which have been heralded as forums for genuine citizen involvement in government decision making, are increasingly subject to state and federal open meeting laws. While both open meeting laws and consensus-building processes were developed with the laudable intent of enhancing the legitimacy of government, it has been alleged that open meeting laws pose significant challenges for consensus building bodies.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/Too_Much_Sun.pdf