Still others may have a campaign to shape public opinion mind. There are no relevant rules of standing. The rule of law does not apply, at least insofar as which issues will be the focus of negotiation and which will be out of bounds. In public dispute resolution, the agenda of issues is not limited to what can be litigated or what the court would find relevant. Any and all issues can be linked in the world of politics and public affairs.
Many policy issues are quite complex, with far-reaching technical or scientific implications.
Yet, there are no requirements that information be shared. There are no guarantees that some, or even most, of the parties will have the expertise they need to wrestle with the technical questions that will arise. The power to actually decide and set policy usually rests in the hands of a government body. Elected and appointed decision makers, therefore, may tolerate a mediation effort they may even participate in it but in the end they retain the right to make the final decisions. In almost every instance, the results of an informal public dispute resolution effort must be transformed into a binding format, such as a contract, a piece of legislation or a set of conditions added to a permit.