Political Compromise
In international politics, the compromises most often discussed are usually regarded as nefarious deals with dictators, such as Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler. Margalit calls these “rotten compromises.” In democratic politics, compromises are necessary if any progress is to be made. Politicians campaign standing on principle and demonizing their opponents, which is to be expected in a robust democracy. But then they have to be able to adjust their principles and work with their opponents if they are to govern at all. This tension is one of the great challenges of contemporary democracy and has become more difficult in the era of the permanent campaign, as Gutmann and Thompson show. The problem of political compromise in general is an important subject in political ethics.
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Famous quotes containing the words political and/or compromise:
“From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.”
—Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)
“God never jests with us, and will not compromise the end of nature, by permitting any inconsequence in its procession.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)