Bonnie Colby’s thirteen criteria proposed for
successful water settlement implementation seemed to focus largely on clear
communication between groups, involvement at all stages of implementation, and
flexibility. I thought this was interesting because I think open communication
and willingness to compromise and be actively involved are all necessary for a
lot of agreements, not just water settlements specifically.
I think it would be
interesting to apply these criteria to other types of settlements and to groups
other than tribes and see how effective they are. Personally, I think many of the criteria are nonspecific enough to apply to a multitude of scenarios.
Good observation. Contracts, compacts and treaties of all kinds might be strengthen by adhering to the principles she identifies. Perhaps there is a way to empirically test this. Nuclear arms reduction agreements? Trade agreements? Historical treaties with American Indian tribes? Child custody agreements?
ReplyDelete