PSA Awarded Grant for Bipartisan Congressional Negotiation Program with Harvard University
For Immediate Release: April 27, 2018
PSA Awarded Hewlett Grant for Bipartisan Congressional Negotiation Program with Harvard Kennedy School
Washington, DC – Today, Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) announces a new grant award from the Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative. This year-long grant will support PSA’s partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) to pilot an original negotiation program for Congressional staff. It will be the third PSA-Harvard negotiation course. The upcoming program will integrate new learning, case studies and simulations into the curriculum designed specifically for Capitol Hill audiences.
“We are thrilled to continue PSA’s important work on Capitol Hill thanks to this generous support from the Hewlett Foundation. At a time when partisan politics continue to challenge our national institutions and the role of Congress, bipartisan programs like this are important bridge-builders,” said Nathan Sermonis, PSA Executive Director. “Partnering with renowned experts at the Harvard Kennedy School, we aim to improve the environment for collaborative policy solutions on Capitol Hill.”
The joint program will enlist HKS faculty to pilot newly-designed course materials built in the legislative context. Unlike previous training programs, this iteration is handcrafted specifically for Congressional staff to directly connect negotiation lessons to their unique workplace.
The Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative focuses on strengthening the values of U.S. democracy in this highly polarized political climate. The nonpartisan initiative supports organizations that foster bipartisan problem-solving, strive to strengthen Congress as an institution, improve campaign finance, and set the stage for negotiation and compromise in Congress.
Partnership for a Secure America is a nonprofit founded by former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton (D-IN) and the late former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman (R-NH) to advance bipartisanship on today’s critical national security and foreign policy challenges. Leveraging the leadership of its distinguished Advisory Board, PSA has unique credibility and access to forge common ground and fashion thoughtful, fact-based policy that promotes America’s national interests.
PSA-Harvard Complete the 2015/2016 Program
Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) and Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation (PON) completed the second negotiation training series for foreign policy and national security staff on Capitol Hill. Through lectures and workshops, instructors from PON and PSA worked to train more effective negotiators on Capitol Hill.
The program was launched in 2014 with the first series focusing on classroom instruction. Learning negotiation vocabulary and the fundamental principles of negotiation were the focus of the classroom instruction. The 2015/2016 series built upon those skills and shifted the emphasis to individual student development. Through bipartisan small group negotiations, students applied lessons from classroom instruction to substantive policy issues. The small groups tacked issues including combating ISIS, addressing the Syrian refugee crisis, developing a U.S. cyber security policy, and deterring Russian involvement in Syria. This approach allowed students to gain greater facility with the tools and concepts of negotiation.
The program allowed students to learn from, as well as instruct, each other with the goal of making negotiation skills more natural and automatic when opportunities for deal making arise,
PSA-Harvard Begin 2015/2016 Program
After a successful pilot of the 2014 PSA-Harvard negotiation training series, the joint effort is launching once again, with new elements and a deeper focus on skills application. The PSA-Harvard Negotiation Program will run from October 2015 to June 2016.
Through a series of lectures and bipartisan workshops, instructors from the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School will work alongside PSA to continue breaking new ground, training more effective negotiators on Capitol Hill.
In 2014, the program focused on classroom instruction with an emphasis on developing vocabulary and learning the fundamental principles of negotiation. This time around, students are in the driver’s seat as the emphasis shifts to identifying and addressing their individual strengths and weaknesses. Through bipartisan small group negotiations, students will begin to apply lessons from classroom instruction to substantive policy issues. This unique approach offers students opportunities to gain a greater facility with the tools and concepts of the art of negotiation.
During this session, the approach is more deliberative and proactive, helping students recognize areas for personal improvement as a negotiator. The program aims to help students learn from, as well as instruct, each other with the goal of making negotiation skills more natural and automatic when opportunities for dealmaking arise.
PSA in Roll Call: How to Negotiate Anything
How to Negotiate Anything: Lessons Learned from Capitol Leaders Program
(This article originally appeared in Roll Call newspaper.)
By Rebecca Gale, Roll Call
November 25, 2014
Forty House and Senate foreign affairs and national security staffers came together recently at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs to learn the necessary skills to overcome gridlock in Congress. The program was organized by the Partnership for a Secure America and Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation. The bridge to bipartisanship, it seems, will be built by cooperative staffers.
The bridge to bipartisanship, it seems, will be built by cooperative staffers.
But can such teamwork lessons be applied more broadly outside of a Harvard-sanctioned setting and in the halls of Congress? Yes, says Andrew Semmel, executive director of the Partnership for a Secure America. He shared his insights with Roll Call in a lightly edited Q and A.
Q: So you got 40 staffers in a room, evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. How easy was it to cut through the rancor and find consensus?
A: On day one, we focused on several exercises and case studies that challenged the idea of negotiation being a zero-sum game — the “you win-I lose” calculus. Dissecting successful historic deals based on a collaborative model — including German reunification, the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and various corporate negotiations — helped establish a mindset on how to approach complex negotiations.
We believed, from the start, that most staff were tired and frustrated by congressional gridlock and low productivity and were eager to learn new skills and ways to improve the legislative process. We’re convinced, from our observations and analysis, that our initial beliefs were correct.
Q: The 40 staffers all came with foreign affairs backgrounds. Do you think foreign affairs is an issue area where partisanship is rampant? Why?
A: Foreign affairs is an area where partisanship exists, but it is not as rampant as in other policy areas. Policymakers generally have more latitude on foreign affairs than in domestic policy because voters are more disengaged on these issues.
Q: What surprised you most about the program?
A: “Active listening” was a surprisingly dominant theme over the course of the program. Humility, too, goes a long way in generating trust and strong relationships among negotiators. Case studies of the best negotiators demonstrated this time and again.
The other biggest surprise was the consistency of participation by staffers recruited for the program. We maintained a strict attendance policy, and they continued to arrive prepared and eager to engage with instructors and each other.
Q: What do you think was the greatest takeaway from the program?
A: That it is possible to create value during a negotiation so all parties can walk away with more than they thought they could achieve. The goal should be to increase the “size of the pie” first, and then negotiate dividing up the pie second.
Q: Why staffers? Do you think the partisan divide is greater at the staff level than at the member level?
A: U.S. congressional staff are more influential than in any other national legislature. Staffers are the gateway to members and help shape members’ views, priorities, and votes. To tackle gridlock and improve the culture of Congress, it is as important to work at the staff level as the member level.
The partisan divide may be less at the staff level. Staffers often live in or around D.C., enjoying more opportunities to interact across the aisle outside of the office. Fortunately, this provides fertile ground for building bipartisan relationships.
Q: How did you find staffers for the program?
A: For this program*, we recruited staffers responsible for national security and foreign policy issues in committee and personal offices — half Democrats and half Republicans, half House and half Senate.
Q. What would you recommend for staffers who want to improve their negotiation skills?
Negotiation skills are like any other skill — they improve with use. A staffer who is interested in improving his or her skills should proactively and consciously engage in negotiations wherever they occur. Remember to actively listen to understand the other party’s underlying interests behind a position, offer ideas for “expanding the pie” in a deal, and prepare, prepare, prepare with research on the issue and the other party. Help those across the table reach an agreement that works for you and them. Finally, keep in mind the words of Italian diplomat Daniele Vare, who said negotiation is “the art of letting them have your way.”
Q: Did staffers explain their reasons for partisanship? What was a common theme that emerged?
A: Staffers are as frustrated as many Americans by meaningless partisanship that yields no results. Many staff follow the lead of their members, and there is hiring selectivity that reinforces prevailing views. Compromise has become a dirty word. Staff (and members) must realize that today’s adversary can be tomorrow’s ally, and building good relations is central to success.
Q: With the wave election ushering in new staffers this January, what is the best piece of advice you would give them on how to negotiate most effectively?
A: Forging strong relationships with staffers from other offices — especially across the aisle — will be absolutely essential. Ninety percent of the work of a successful negotiator is building good rapport, credibility and trust with your counterparts within and between parties. But don’t wait until you need something to reach out to people. Establish those connections and solidify relationships even before there’s a negotiation on the horizon. Find out who the important players on your issues are — what offices, what committees — and reach out just to introduce yourself. Make an effort to meet them in person. Lunch lines, staff trips and after-hour social activities all play a part. This is very time consuming, but you will make a great impression and position yourself well to become an influential Capitol Hill staffer.
Congressional Policy Staffers Go Beyond “Zero-Sum” Legislating
This September, the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) and Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation (PON) completed a first-of-its-kind intensive five-week negotiation program for foreign policy and national security staff on Capitol Hill. This initiative is designed to equip congressional staff with a foundation of knowledge on negotiation and consensus-building strategies that will help participants develop bipartisan solutions to seemingly intractable issues.
The pilot program graduated a bipartisan, bicameral group of 39 influential Capitol Hill staff members responsible for foreign policy and national security issues. Taught by distinguished faculty from Harvard’s PON and organized around PSA’s mission to advance bipartisan solutions to America’s critical national security and foreign policy challenges, the course trains participants in systematic approaches for analyzing and carrying out both bilateral and multiparty negotiations. The program focuses explicitly on collaborative concepts that counter the idea and practice of negotiations as a zero-sum game.
Graduates met a strict attendance and participation requirement, signifying a deep appreciation for the program and lessons. Instruction focused on “at-the-table” techniques, negotiation campaign strategies, and analysis of historically significant negotiations achieved in international relations and corporate contexts.
Anecdotal evidence suggests a strong interest and appetite from Capitol Hill staff for skills training and bipartisan opportunities such as this effort. Partnership for a Secure America will continue investing in this and other efforts to encourage good governance in foreign policy and national security and overcome partisan gridlock in Congress.
PRESS RELEASE: Capitol Hill Negotiation Program Tackles Gridlock
The pilot program graduated a bipartisan, bicameral group of 39 influential Capitol Hill staff members responsible for foreign policy and national security issues. Taught by distinguished faculty from Harvard’s PON and organized around PSA’s mission to advance bipartisan solutions to America’s critical national security and foreign policy challenges, the course trains participants in systematic approaches for analyzing and carrying out both bilateral and multiparty negotiations. The program focuses explicitly on collaborative concepts that counter the idea and practice of negotiations as a zero-sum game.
Graduates met a strict attendance and participation requirement, signifying a deep appreciation for the program and lessons. Instruction focused on “at-the-table” techniques, negotiation campaign strategies, and analysis of historically significant negotiations achieved in international relations and corporate contexts.
Anecdotal evidence suggests a strong interest and appetite from Capitol Hill staff for skills training and bipartisan opportunities such as The Capitol Leaders Negotiation Program. Partnership for a Secure America will continue investing in this and other efforts to encourage good governance in foreign policy and national security and overcome partisan gridlock in Congress.
PSA is a nonprofit founded by former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton (D-IN) and the late U.S. Senator Warren Rudman (R-NH) to advance bipartisanship on today’s critical national security and foreign policy challenges. Leveraging the leadership of its distinguished Advisory Board, PSA has unique credibility and access to forge common ground and fashion thoughtful, fact-based policy that promotes America’s national interests. More information on PSA and bios of our distinguished bipartisan Advisory Board can be found at www.psaonline.org.