Dispute Resolution: A Matrix of Mechanisms

The purpose of this Article is to respond to the oft-repeated comment that, in spite of the massive attention various dispute resolution mechanisms have received in the last decade, theoretical research in the area has been woefully lacking.\u27 This Article is not intended as a culmination of dispute resolution knowledge, but as a necessary first step, fabricating a structure of dispute resolution mechanisms on which later research, theoretical and empirical, can hang. The output of the Article is a suggested organization of the body of knowledge known as dispute resolution, or popularly-alternative dispute resolution or ADR, 2 into its three component parts (dispute resolution mechanisms, dispute variables and process goals) and a preliminary attempt to show how these components are correlated. This will be done through the use of both text and charts