Research and development of methods and tools for achieving and maintaining consensus processes in the face of change within and among government oversite agencies: First annual performance report: Research status, October 1988--September 1989
In contrast to the autonomy of authoritarian rule implemented through edict and backed by force, the key defining feature of the organizations responsible for making American government work today is ''polyonomy'' a term we've invented to signify that responsibility and power are lodged not with any one agency but are apportioned among many agencies and subagencies. Polyonomy requires consensus backed by negotiation and persuasion. Government Oversight Agencies (GOA's) -- those bodies at all levels of government (federal, state, and local) charged with implementing laws made by the Congress and by state legislatures -- face the monumental but essential task of coordinating their overlapping roles and responsibilities. And that's not all. They must learn to cooperate within an environment which engenders and rewards adversariality, and they must further learn to maintain the ability to cooperate over long periods of time, to coordinate necessary adaptation to inevitable change. The need is urgent for longitudinal, real-world research on mechanisms to create and maintain processes for helping GOA's achieve quality consensus decisions. We hypothesize that consensus evolves and recycles through four phases -- Planning, Building/Maintaining, Implementing, and Post-Implementation -- within an external environment determined by four elements -- Compulsions (Drivers), Information Gathering, Communications, and Reward Systems. 5 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg (USA). Management Systems Labs.
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-88DP48058
- OSTI ID:
- 6112436
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/DP/48058-1; ON: DE89013509
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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