title: Negotiating in the public interest: considerations for health negotiators acting on behalf of government (NABG).
abstract: It is asserted that what distinguishes government negotiations from those conducted within solely the private sector is the role played by the public interest in the former. This is a subject area that has not received a great deal of academic attention. Direct interviews with government negotiators in the health field are used to explore the nature and expression of the public interest in public policy negotiations. The information drawn from the interviews is then set against a review of the literature on the public interest and government negotiations. Many of the negotiators interviewed differed as to what constituted the public interest. On the basis of the interviews conducted, it appears that the public interest acts to restrain the government from applying its power during negotiations regardless of the level of awareness the negotiators have of this phenomenon. The research conducted suggests that government negotiators, without explicit direction but with a deep understanding of the culture within the government, work with both the public and private interests of the government when they conduct a negotiation.
authors.affiliation: Ontario Government, Toronto, Ontario.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006076:Government; D006801:Humans; D017008:Negotiating; D017150:Public Sector / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*