The Mindsets of Political Compromise--论文代写范文精选

不妥协的心态可以控制，让政客们适应原则和尊重他们的对手。这种心态更适合管理,因为它使政客们更容易识别和作用于理想的妥协情况。在民主政治的重大问题上，抵抗政治妥协的重要来源在于民主进程本身。下面的paper代写范文进行探讨。

Abstract
Political compromise is difficult in American democracy even though no one doubts it is necessary. It is difficult for many reasons, including the recent increase in political polarization that has been widely criticized. We argue that the resistance to compromise cannot be fully appreciated without understanding its source in the democratic process itself, especially as conducted in the U.S. The incursion of campaigning into governing in American democracy--the so called "permanent campaign"--encourages political attitudes and arguments that make compromise more difficult. These constitute what we call the uncompromising mindset, characterized by politicians' standing on principle and mistrusting opponents. This mindset is conducive to campaigning, but not to governing, because it stands in the way of necessary change and thereby biases the democratic process in favor of the status quo. The uncompromising mindset can be kept in check by an opposite cluster of attitudes and arguments--the compromising mindset--that inclines politicians to adapt their principles and respect their opponents. This mindset is more appropriate for governing, because it enables politicians more readily to recognize and act on opportunities for desirable compromise. We explore the dynamics of these mindsets by examining the processes that led to the compromises on tax reform in 1986 and health care reform in 2010.
Why is compromise on major issues so hard in democratic politics when no one doubts that it is necessary? We argue that a significant source of the resistance to political compromise lies in the democratic process itself. The increasing incursion of campaigning into governing in American democracy--the "permanent campaign"1--encourages political attitudes and arguments that make compromise more difficult. The resistance to compromise is a problem for any democracy because it stands in the way of change that nearly everyone agrees is necessary, and thereby biases the political process in favor of the status quo.
The resistance to democratic compromise is anchored in what we call an uncompromising mindset, a cluster of attitudes and arguments that encourage standing on principle and mistrusting opponents.2 This mindset is conducive to campaigning, but not to governing. Resistance to democratic compromise can and should be kept in check by a contrary cluster of attitudes and arguments--a compromising mindset--which favors adapting one's principles and respecting opponents. It is the mindset more appropriate for governing, because it enables politicians more readily to recognize opportunities for desirable compromise. Political scientists have exposed the harmful consequences of misplaced campaigning, but have not connected this problem with the mindsets we analyze here and their implications for democratic compromise.3

The influence of campaigning is not necessarily greater than other factors that make compromises more difficult, such as increased polarization and the immense influence of money in democratic politics. But the mindset associated with campaigning deserves greater attention than it has received because, first, it reinforces all the other factors. Even sharp ideological differences, for example, would present less of an obstacle to compromise in the absence of the continual pressures of campaigning. Second, unlike the other factors, campaigning is an essential and desirable part of the democratic process. It becomes a problem only when it interferes with another equally essential part of the process--governing.4 Third, if we want to make democracy more friendly toward compromise, we need to understand not only the partisan positions and political interests that affect compromise but also the arguments and attitudes that politicians use to resist or support it.

Our analysis shows the need to shift the balance in democratic governing more toward the compromising mindset and the promotion of political compromises it makes possible. But our defense of compromise is consistent with, and indeed requires, a vigorous and sometimes contentious politics in which citizens press strongly-held principles and mobilize in support of bold causes. Social movements, protest struggles, and electoral campaigns are among the significant sites of this kind of politics, and they play important roles in democratic politics. But all these activities would be in vain if the democratic process did not produce the public goods that citizens seek, and protect the rights that they cherish. The success of democratic politics ultimately depends on how our leaders govern--and thus significantly on their attitudes toward compromise.

Two Compromises
To begin to diagnose resistance to democratic compromise, we turn to two pieces of historic legislation--the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA)5 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA).6

The TRA was the most comprehensive tax reform legislation in modern American history, achieved only after years of failed attempts.7 The historic effort began without much fanfare. In his State of the Union Address in 1984, President Ronald Reagan called merely for a study of the problem, with a report to be submitted after the election. Congressional Democrats did not think he was serious about reform. Walter Mondale, his challenger in the election, showed no interest in making tax reform an issue, especially after his comment that whoever was president would have to raise taxes.

The hard work on the bill began quietly, with experts meeting secretly in the Treasury Department. The proposals that came out of Treasury were turned into a bipartisan compromise, forged with the support of President Reagan, Democratic House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, and later with the help of Republican Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Bob Packwood and Democrat Bill Bradley.

All the supporters of the TRA gained something they desired, but they all also made concessions that flew in the face of their most principled reasons for supporting comprehensive tax reform in the first place. Democrats wanted to end loopholes for special interests and the wealthy, but they also agreed to radically lower the top tax rate (from 50 percent to 28 percent). Republicans wanted to lower marginal tax rates, but they also agreed to eliminate $30 billion annually in tax deductions, which resulted in the wealthy contributing a higher percentage of income-tax revenues than they previously had done.

Compromises--even the most successful ones, like the TRA--never satisfy pure principles. A major scholar of tax law, Charles Galvin, compared the TRA to a series of principled tax reform plans, and found it lacking. He wrote that "We are advised that this is the most sweeping legislation in fifty years, that it is a model of fairness and equity ... I dislike being a cynic or a spoilsport, but I am not at all convinced by the propaganda."8 After it passed, its supporters rallied to its defense, calling it landmark legislation. It was--if compared to previous or subsequent tax reform. But judged by the moral principles invoked even by its staunchest supporters, the TRA still fell far short.

Now, fast-forward to the efforts to pass a health care reform bill in 2009-10.9 Reform was a major issue in the campaigns leading up to both the Democratic primary and to the general election in 2008. Most of the presidential candidates presented proposals that were more detailed than is usual in a campaign.10 Once in office, Barack Obama made health care reform a priority. At first, he signaled that he was open to compromise on the details of his proposal, and left the negotiations largely to Congressional leaders. (Relying on Congressional leaders was essentially the same strategy that President Reagan had followed with tax reform.) When Congress was unable to reach agreement by the August 2009 recess, the campaign in effect began again, with opponents taking advantage of the break to mobilize opinion against the pending proposals--often distorting them in the process. The effect was to end whatever small hope there might have been for bipartisan compromise. Reformers then turned to the task of compromise within the Democratic Party, a challenge that turned out to be nearly as great.(paper代写)

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