Power in Collaborative Rulemaking Processes : Writing the Rules for Us Hydroelectric Project Licensing

In the United States, government agencies at the national and state levels increasingly have resolved conflict using collaborative tools such as facilitated negotiation, policy dialogues, mediation, and negotiated rule-making. Despite growing use of these tools, numerous writers caution against the notion that collaboration should be embraced as the preferred solution to complex policy disputes. Concerns have been raised about the relative power and authority of participants in such processes, reflecting the potential for exclusion, domination, or cooptation of some parties. Some research suggests that differences in political resources account for the privileging of some parties in negotiated rulemaking processes (Langbein, 2002). The objective of this research is to enrich our understanding of the forms and expressions of power employed by parties to collaborative rulemaking processes. A collaborative rulemaking process is analyzed using Hardy & Phillips (1998) framework of power to understand the means by which parties attempt to frame the conflict and establish the legitimacy of their claims. This analysis offers insight into how organizations seek to satisfy their interests within a collaborative process through the use of authority, resources and discursive legitimacy. It also illustrates how organizations seek to enhance their discursive legitimacy by linking their efforts to larger societal values