ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the influence of negotiation structures on the conduct of the negotiation, identifying settings that condition the course of disputes and the roles and actions the mediator can adopt. It draws on the case experiences in interjurisdictional boundary negotiations in Virginia. The chapter also reviews negotiation subarenas from the viewpoint of mediator roles, activities, and objectives. Individual mediator styles are important in determining specific mediator actions in a dispute setting. In negotiating sessions mediators first of all represent the essential joint aspect of the negotiation, the common purpose the parties have in seeking to settle the dispute through direct talks. In caucuses, freed from the social requirements of the joint setting, negotiators' reactions to the adversarial experience are allowed free rein. Mediators' meetings with the negotiating teams as a whole are focused on the overall negotiation, on what the other team is doing.
