Hierarchy of agreement

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Types of Participant

In general, any negotiation descends to the outermost level of any participant in that discussion; the level of any discussion can therefore be characterized by the outermost-level participant present. From inner to outer, possible levels are:

Honest and Well-Meaning

• Ring: innermost ring, inside "common interest"
• Definition: Participant is believed to be both:
  • honest: neither knowingly inventing details nor leaving out important information
  • well-meaning: prioritizing the greater good of society -- at whatever the scope of the discussion may be -- over their own well-being
• Goal: to maximize the good to society without causing disproportionate undeserved harm to any individual or group (the ultimate basis of morality).
• Benefits:
  • Participant's opinions may be presumed to reflect what is good for everyone, not just for them (and argued with on that basis, if there is disagreement)

The participant may have more awareness of any decision's possible effects on her/his special areas of interest, and hence act as a sort of advisor to the group in that area, but s/he would not choose an action which favored such interests over the interests of others unless it also seemed to produce the best results overall (for society at large).

This level of negotiation is especially vital in science, where the convention in a disagreement is not only to assume your opponent's unswerving devotion to the discovery of truth (the "common good" which science aims to serve) but also to put the most charitable possible interpretation on any ambiguous statements s/he makes

Discussion of political philosophy can only happen at this level. Any political philosophy must serve the common good, otherwise it is propaganda.

Openly Self-Interested

• Ring: outside "common interest", still inside "trustable"
• Definition: The participant is believed to be honest (as above), but isn't willing to sacrifice local gains (i.e. gains for her/himself or the interests s/he represents) for the greater good without some sort of compensation.
  • Such compensation may be unwritten, as in "you owe me for this one", and hence is not always obvious.
• Goal: to maximize local gain (for self or constituency).
  • In practice, there is a social cost to embracing opinions seen to be harmful to society at large, so a self-interested negotiator will generally be willing to give the greater good some priority -- but only to the extent that the social gain of doing so outweighs the loss (or increased risk of loss) of supporting a decision which is locally detrimental.
• Benefits:
  • Participant can be trusted not to hide their personal stake in any particular decision; if they make a statement, it is because that is what they believe, not because they are trying to manipulate the discussion somehow.

Negotiation at this level is generally of a quid pro quo nature.

Political policy can be discussed at this level, but the results are generally consistent with the classic one-liner "if you like sausage and respect the law, you shouldn't watch either one being made". Policy is almost always better constructed if it is consistent with an overall political philosophy (or at least a set of mutually agreed-upon goals), for which an "honest and well-intentioned" discussion is required.

Untrustworthy

• Ring: outside "trustability", still inside "negotiation"
• Definition: The participant knowingly misrepresents facts or her/himself, but always acts for her/his own local interest
• Goal: same as "openly self-interested", but may claim to have the greater interest as a top priority
• Benefits for group: is at least a rational actor; once her/his motives are understood, meaningful negotiation can take place
• Disadvantages for group: can't be trusted to keep promises, so agreements must have reliable means of enforcement

Note that an untrustworthy participant who actually has the common good as a priority still cannot be trusted, as there is no way to establish that this is truly their goal. Such a participant might behave deceptively with good cause until s/he determined that others in the group could be trusted at a higher level.

An untrustworthy negotiator may or may not be a rational actor.

Negotiation at this level is generally of a carrot-and-stick nature.

Hostile

• Ring: (outermost) outside "negotiation"
• Definition: Entity either refuses to negotiate or knowingly takes actions which prevent negotiation from occurring (e.g. insulting or harming an agent who offers negotiation).

A hostile may or may not be a rational actor.