Constructing Cooperation: Instituting a State Plan for Development and Redevelopment

Recognizing that policy implementation requires cooperation at different points in the policymaking process, many policymakers are using innovative techniques to bring together and conciliate divergent interests. This article looks at a technique called “cross acceptance” that was employed by the state of New Jersey in its attempt to institute statewide land-use planning. New Jersey policymakers envisioned the cross acceptance process as a means of managing conflict, sharing information, and building consensus on the implementation of state planning. The article, concludes that the process was valuable in building norms and consensus and that it was successful because it brought local, county, and state officials to a shared forum to consider areas of consensus and discord. State planning officials incorporated the information yielded from the process into various iterations of the preliminary planning process, thereby effectively building support for the state planning effort.