Large scale technological projects such as, for example, the development of nuclear energy, the storage of hazardous materials, and land reclamation, are often the subject of heated debates. Apart from matters of principle involved, this debate is frequently fuelled by the simple but often overlooked fact that the responsible decision makers rarely are also the persons who are going to suffer if something goes wrong. It would be an interesting research project to find out how many activities that are considered dangerous are actually located close to important centres of government. This seems to imply that the conflict is basically unbalanced. One party holds most of the power and will not suffer the consequences, the other is without power and runs most of the risk. From a somewhat cynical point of view one could even state that the tremendous amount of consultation that goes into some technological projects has more to do with adhering to the norms of democracy than being a real negotiation game (Munier, 1986) between more or less equal partners. This feature is succinctly caught in the notion of a social dilemma (see Wilke, this volume).