ABSTRACT
Practicing mediators see dispute resolution as a highly dynamic process of deal cutting, in which the mediator exerts pressure on the parties to split the difference separating them. Relations between parties are depicted as purely adversarial; disputes are seen as sublimated war. The mechanisms of public policy create conditions that establish adversary relationships in public sector disputes and institutions and processes to regulate and help resolve these disputes. The behavioral patterns observed are generally consistent across a range of intergovernmental mediation cases in which the structural characteristics of the dispute are similar. Negotiations in complex disputes require the parties to fashion relationships that support clear communication and shared understanding of the meanings attributed to important concepts. The chapter describes structural and dynamic elements at work in local government dispute negotiations and the mediation role as it emerges from our cases.
