Seven Secrets for Negotiating with Government: How to Deal with Local, State, National, or Foreign Governments—and Come Out Ahead

THE MANY WAYS OF NEGOTIATING WITH GOVERNMENTS 11

not to give you a ticket or with an IRS agent not to impose a tax

penalty, are you ‘‘negotiating?’’

Negotiation Defined

Negotiations do not require a polished bargaining table, a team of

lawyers, or reams of detailed documents. Negotiation is basically

a process of communication by which two or more parties seek to

advance their own interests or those of the persons they represent

through an agreement on a desired future action. The parties to a

negotiation are involved in that communication because at least

one side has decided that it can improve its situation in some way

if both sides agree on some act ...