Do stakeholder committees produce fair policy outcomes?

When developing stream flow management plans, a common approach is to appoint a range of stakeholderssuch as water users, environmental interests, indigenous interests, and natural resource management agenciesto an advisory committee to make difficult management and policy choices regarding the sustainable use ofwater. This paper looks at factors that affect the ability of these types of committees to develop fairoutcomes. Fairness in this context has recognition, distribution, procedural and social norm components.Based on case studies, this paper shows how institutional arrangements, participant power bases, andnetworks affect the outcome of this process. It concludes by outlining some key considerations for naturalresource managers who use such committees in policy development.