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International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict |
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA |
If negotiations are to be successful, the right people must be involved. This means that all of the interested and affected parties must be represented and that the people doing the negotiating really do represent (and are trusted by) the people whom they are supposed to represent. If a party is left out of the negotiation process (either on purpose or by accident), they are likely to be angry--even if the settlement is one they might have agreed to had they had a part in developing it. While they may accept the agreement anyway, often the excluded party will try to reverse the decision or block its implementation because their concerns were not adequately considered.
Similarly, if the person at the table is not accepted by his or her constituents as a legitimate representative, the constituents are likely to argue that their interests were not adequately represented, and they may try to block implementation of the agreement as well. For this reason, it is very important that the people at the table really do represent who they say they represent, and that they take care to consult with their constituents as the process unfolds to keep them appraised of the proceedings and to make sure their concerns are adequately dealt with.
Copyright ©1998 Conflict Research Consortium -- Contact: crc@colorado.edu