compromise
{{Short description|Negotiation strategy}}
{{About|settling differences in negotiations|compromises in design and decision making|Trade-off|other uses}}
To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand. In arguments, compromise means finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving variations from an original goal or desires. Defining and finding the best possible compromise is an important problem in fields like game theory and the voting system.
Research indicates that suboptimal compromises are often the result of negotiators failing to realize when they have interests that are completely compatible with those of the other party, leading them to settle for suboptimal agreements. Mutually better outcomes can often be found by careful investigation of both parties' interests, especially if done early in negotiations.{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Leigh |last2=Hastie |first2=Reid |year=1990 |title=Social perception in negotiation |journal=Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=98–123 |doi=10.1016/0749-5978(90)90048-e}}
The compromise solution of a multicriteria decision making or multi-criteria decision analysis problem that is the closest to the ideal could be determined by the VIKOR method, which provides a maximum utility of the majority, and a minimum individual regret of the opponent.{{clarify|reason=unclear terms: "the majority" of what? "the opponent" of whom? what sorts of "criteria"?|date=July 2023}}{{cite journal|last=Opricovic|first=Serafim|title=A Compromise Solution in Water Resources Planning|journal=Water Resources Management|volume=23|number=8|year=2009|pages=1549–1561|doi=10.1007/s11269-008-9340-y |bibcode=2009WatRM..23.1549O |s2cid=153799255 }}
Politics
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H12751, Godesberg, Vorbereitung Münchener Abkommen.jpg
In international politics, compromises often discussed include infamous deals with dictators, such as Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Adolf Hitler. Margalit calls these "rotten compromises."{{cite book | last=Margalit | first=Avishai | title=On Compromise and Rotten Compromises | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-691-13317-1}} In the United States and other democratic countries {{clarification needed|date=July 2023}}, many politicians of recent times permanently campaign to gain reelection. Thus, United States Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann and political scientist Dennis F. Thompson have observed that compromise is more difficult.{{cite book | last1=Gutmann | first1=Amy | last2=Thompson | first2=Dennis Frank | title=The Spirit of Compromise | year=2012 | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn=978-0-691-15391-9}} The problem of political compromise in general is an important subject in political ethics.
Politicians being willing to compromise can reduce partisanship and hostility. Politics is sometimes called the "art of compromise".{{Cite web |title=Finding the Middle Ground: The Art of Governing (Or "Compromise" is not a four-letter word) |url=https://iop.harvard.edu/get-involved/study-groups/finding-middle-ground-art-governing-or-%E2%80%9Ccompromise%E2%80%9D-not-four-letter-word |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=The Institute of Politics at Harvard University |language=en}} Polling by the American Survey Center indicates that Americans take a favorable view of political compromise.{{Cite web |title=Public views of political compromise and conflict and partisan misperceptions |url=https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/public-views-of-political-compromise/ |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=The Survey Center on American Life |language=en}}
Human relationships
In human relationships, "compromise" can make no party happy because the parties involved feel that they either gave away too much or that they received too little.{{cite web|url=https://pmhut.com/methods-of-dealing-with-conflict-part-ii|title=Methods of Dealing with Conflict — Part II|author=Product Management Hut|year=2008|publisher=PM Hut|access-date=2010-01-11}} Compromise may be referred to as capitulation, a "surrender" of objectives, principles, or material. Extremism is often considered as an antonym to compromise, which, depending on context, may be associated with concepts of balance and tolerance.
See also
- {{annotated link|Compromise of 1850}}
- {{annotated link|Compromise of 1867}}
- {{annotated link|Connecticut Compromise}}
- {{annotated link|Constitution}}
- {{annotated link|False balance}}
- {{annotated link|Hardline}}
- {{annotated link|Missouri Compromise}}
- {{annotated link|Three-Fifths Compromise}}
- {{annotated link|Trade-off}}
References
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External links
- {{YouTube|id=CNiayFrehO8|title=Rav Chaim Navon - Peshara (Compromise) - Vision or necessity?}}
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{{Virtues}}
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