6.8.4.3 Balanced Negotiation
To achieve a balanced negotiation, all the different points of view have to be weighed – including the views of the ‘silent majority’ of people who did not initially raise an issue, and the views of minorities who are not represented in the decision-making process. Several factors can contribute to achieving balance:
- The negotiations must be conducted at the appropriate level of subsidiarity (6.6.2).
- The impact of a decision can be weighted in relation to the number of people involved and the importance of the issue to them.
- Consultation, with everyone affected by a decision, can be used to counterbalance the pressures put on politicians by people with specific interests (6.4.5.2).
- Individual politicians who have received donations can be barred from sitting on decision-making committees related to the donor’s activities. This would avoid a conflict of interests and reduce the impact of money on politics.
- Independent assessments can be made of the future consequences of a decision, to deflect leaders from choosing short-term populism.
It is not suggested here that the balancing process can be reduced to mathematical formulae. The main requirement is to ensure that everyone affected has been adequately represented.
This is a current page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3a book, © PatternsofPower.org, 2020. An archived copy of it is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition03/6843.htm