Cognitive Conflict and Consensus Building in the National Estuary Program

The consensus-building processes that characterize many environmental partnerships are often thwarted by cognitive conflict, which occurs when stakeholders have conflicting beliefs about the parameters of environmental problems and institutional performance. The author argues cognitive conflict results from stakeholders behaving like intuitive lawyers, who interpret uncertain situations in ways consistent with their self-interest. The implications of this argument are tested using survey data from stakeholders in the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program. The findings suggest cognitive conflict is a significant source of transaction costs for consensus-building processes, a barrier that should be directly addressed within partnership decision-making structures.