Mediation is a process whereby a person becomes involved in a dispute or decision between two or more others and attempts to affect the outcome. This person, the mediator also known as the third party and sometimes referred to as the neutral, depending on the contexthas no authority to dictate the outcome but rather exercises influence to affect an outcome. Mediation is a special case of negotiation in which the mediator helps the disputants, or negotiators, reach an agreement that they might otherwise not reach on their own. It preserves the voluntary, joint-decision features of negotiation: The disputants retain the right to accept or reject any suggestion made by the mediator. As such, mediation is a form of assisted negotiation, and it is helpful to ...