Conflict Resolution and Systemic Change

This article suggests that the view of public norm elaboration and accountability underlying the critique of ADR is too narrow and needs to be rethought. Public norms do not consist only of the precedents developed and applied by courts or other adjudicative bodies. They also emerge when relevant institutional actors develop values or remedies through an accountable process of principled and participatory decision making, and then adapt these values and remedies to broader groups or situations. ADR can play a significant role in developing legitimate and effective solutions to common problems and, in the process, produce generalizable norms