Executive Orders (EOs) have emerged as one of the most effective mechanisms for governors to encourage, or direct, administrative agencies to employ dispute resolution practices in states. EOs demonstrate a state's support not only for initiating but also expanding consensus building and dispute resolution programs to new areas of government. Executive orders are being used by governors—both Republicans and Democrats—who are interested in promoting dispute resolution and collaborative processes to achieve more effective governance in their states. The following - a publication by the Policy Consensus Initiative (now Kitchen Table Democracy) and a set of state executive orders - describes how EOs work to institutionalize consensus building in the states.
