For more than thirty-two years, as Review and Compliance Coordinator for the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office, Dr. Joseph Y. Garrison has encountered his share of conflict and confrontation while reviewing more than 70,000 federal Section 106 review requests from some 90 different agencies toward the goal of the identification, evaluation, and protection of Historic Properties in his state. Seeking a sound conflict resolution method, Garrison hit upon the notion that Game Theory's mathematical modeling could provide certain helpful insights. He knew conflict resolvers schooled in a great variety of disciplines who studied and implemented the strategies Game Theory modeling proposes have found this discipline extremely useful in resolving and even preventing conflict.
Game Theorists use 'Analogous Predictive Analysis' to extract understanding from the solutions ('derivations') of known 'low stakes' board and card games and then apply that understanding to describe the manner in which winning goals and strategies may be obtained in analogous 'high stakes' games such as Section 106 review.
Garrison's book, Section 106 and Game Theory, considers how State Historic Preservation Office Environmental Review and Compliance (ER&C) staffers, Federal Agency Officials, and applicants for Federal assistance can best use the analysis of the Section 106 review process made possible by modern Game Theory to assist them in preventing those conflicts that occasionally erupt out of their cases. Furthermore, Consulting Parties in Section 106 reviews will also benefit from the information contained in this book.
The book's sections discuss such components of Game Theory as: utility theory, prospect theory, if-then statements, goals and strategies, dominated and dominant strategies, maxims, inducements, restrictions, 'common knowledge', 'focal points'. graphical tools, and the discipline's acknowledged limits. Other chapters bring Section 106 review directly into the discussion of the Nash Equilibrium, symmetry, parity, the 'Tit for Tat' strategy, and Robert Axelrod's 'evolution of cooperation'.
The book ends with a quick reference guide and a handy Section 106 review case study that highlights how Game Theory can be used to best advantage.
