Pola Lehmann, Johannes Gerschewski and Prof. Jeffrey Winters explore the value of compromise in democratic societies
Many democracies today are under pressure, both in countries with long established democracies, like the United States, as well as in new democracies, like Hungary and Poland. A very apparent symptom of these pressures is reflected in the way political debates are fought today. They become more and more heated and unforgiving, denying the other side to be a legitimate opponent in the debate. Discussions are being fueled by depicting the different sides as representing the right or the wrong answer, instead of presenting different but legitimate views to the issue at stake. What can keep societies together in these times and strengthen social cohesion? Solidarity can be one answer to this question.
Showing solidarity with another one’s cause can build ties between different groups in society. But solidarity is also very demanding, it requires not only to view the cause as legitimate but also as worthy. A less demanding solution is provided through political compromise. Compromise also requires to regard the other side as a legitimate representative, but one does not need to make a common cause out of it. The different sides can still disagree about the best solution to the given issue, but they respect each other views and act in the strong believe that striking a compromise between the different views, even though this means loss on both sides, is better than no compromise. But how can societies in such heated environments as we find them today create an atmosphere of mutual respect and legitimacy of the other side’s cause?
During their fellowship at the Thomas Mann House, Pola Lehmann and Johannes Gerschewski will explore the value of compromise in democratic societies. Is there empirical evidence that political debates are becoming increasingly heated and polarized? What can we do to counteract this, and what are the limits of compromise?
Prof. Jeffrey Winters argues that question is not whether one should compromise – one absolutely should, but only when victory is out of reach. The choice concerns when compromises are made. Should we start with an attitude or approach of compromise from the beginning, or should compromise come later in the process in the form of peacefully accepting an outcome that is less than our ideal goal? The first might be thought of as a strategy based on compromise, whereas the second is a willingness to compromise. It is a subtle but important difference. He argues in favor of the second.
Speakers
Pola Lehmann is a senior researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and co-director of the Manifesto Project. She studied administrative sciences at the Universities of Potsdam and Copenhagen. She studies democracy and democratic processes with a special focus on political parties, elections and political representation. In her dissertation, which won the Leibniz Dissertation Award in 2021, she investigated political representation and compromise in the German Bundestag.
Johannes Gerschewski is a research fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and coordinates the work of the Theory Network at the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS).” He has published in academic journals including American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, and Comparative Political Studies. His book on The Two Logics of Autocratic Rule was published in April 2023 by Cambridge University Press.
Jeffrey Winters is Professor and Director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies program (EDGS), and past chair of the Political Science Department at Northwestern University. Prof. Winters specializes on oligarchs and elites and the role of wealth power and extreme economic inequality in a range of political systems. His forthcoming book
Domination through Democracy: Why Oligarchs Win will be published by Penguin Random House. His earlier book,
Oligarchy (Cambridge 2011), won APSA’s 2012 Gregory M. Luebbert Award for the Best Book in Comparative Politics. Prof. Winters also studies human rights, authoritarianism, and democratic transitions in post-colonial states. He has conducted extensive research in the region of Southeast Asia.
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