Book contents
- Hanging Together
- Hanging Together
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Aiming Too High, Aiming Too Low
- 3 Fellowship’s Forefather
- 4 Broadening the Base
- 5 Three Dimensions of Trust
- 6 Principled Pragmatists, Principled Purists, and the Liberal Democratic Front
- 7 Talking, Shouting Back, and Listening Better
- 8 Justifying (and Constraining) Salutary Hypocrisy
- 9 Facilitating Fellowship
- 10 Conclusion
- Index
6 - Principled Pragmatists, Principled Purists, and the Liberal Democratic Front
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2022
- Hanging Together
- Hanging Together
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Aiming Too High, Aiming Too Low
- 3 Fellowship’s Forefather
- 4 Broadening the Base
- 5 Three Dimensions of Trust
- 6 Principled Pragmatists, Principled Purists, and the Liberal Democratic Front
- 7 Talking, Shouting Back, and Listening Better
- 8 Justifying (and Constraining) Salutary Hypocrisy
- 9 Facilitating Fellowship
- 10 Conclusion
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 discusses how trust can emerge in the formal political sphere. Engaging with arguments for “political friendship” and “salutary hypocrisy,” this chapter shows that a division of labour between “principled pragmatists” and “principled purists” can counteract the institutionalized enmity problem. Principled pragmatists can develop a sense of reciprocity by engaging in some forms of hypocrisy and by striking compromises; this reciprocity can counteract the tendency for political actors to compete as enemies. Meanwhile, principled purists can more stubbornly refuse to compromise in order to keep principled pragmatists honest. There are times, however, when the distribution of principled pragmatists across mainstream parties is unbalanced, just as there are times when some (former) mainstream liberal democrats have forged enduring alliances with autocratic political actors. Accordingly, the chapter argues that in these circumstances, those who stand outside of these “unholy alliances” must embrace contestation and show that participation in these alliances is politically disadvantageous.
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- Hanging TogetherRole-Based Constitutional Fellowship and the Challenge of Difference and Disagreement, pp. 95 - 114Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022