6.8.6 Accepting the Outcome of Negotiations

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

The focus in this chapter has been on having meaningful negotiations, but these will not achieve their purpose if people refuse to accept the outcomes. In extreme cases, such as the refusal to accept the results of a national election, failed negotiations can lead to attempts to overthrow the entire political system. Otherwise, outcomes can take one of four forms:

· The majority might refuse to make a concession. For example someone who wanted to justify wife-beating on the basis of ethnic tradition might be refused – on the grounds that this would infringe the woman’s rights (in a country which had formally established such rights). Refusals are more likely to prove acceptable to people if an explicit reason is offered.

· A negotiation between a minority group and those in power might result in a concession which doesn’t materially affect most people but which is significant for those requesting it. Governance can evolve with this approach, resulting in a fusion of people’s contributions and an increase in acceptability; the cohesiveness of the society can then grow wider and deeper.

· In some rare circumstances a divergence might be agreed, where it is agreed that different rules could apply to different portions of the population. Regionalisation is an example (6.6.3.2).

· Many, if not most, negotiations result in a compromise being reached. For example it will never be possible for everybody to agree how much tax they pay as individuals because of inherent diversity of opinion on the proper role of government (2.2). Even if people are not individually satisfied, though, realism will lead to stoic acceptance of the negotiated outcome – if the process was perceived to be fair.

Acceptance of any of these outcomes is more likely if the political system is perceived as legitimate (6.3.5.2).

Rules and procedures alone cannot guarantee the meaningfulness of a negotiation or the acceptability of a political system. The issue of intransigence – a refusal to negotiate – can affect all the dimensions of power, so some of its implications are taken up in the last chapter (9.6).