Non-Voluntary Compliance

It is often assumed that one cannot be forced to accept an offer as one can always reject it and be no worse off than one would have been had the offer not been made; offers involve benefits rather than the pains associated with threats. The confusion arises from the fact that we often also assume that in all cases where Q is forced to choose to do what P wants him to do, P coerces Q. I have argued that coercion is only one "mode of non-voluntary compliance". By distinguishing the different ways one can be forced to comply with another's wishes, I have attempted to sketch out the various ways that non-voluntary compliance can operate with offers as well as threats. Dn the past few years a good deal of attention has been paid to the issue of coercion and the possibility of being forced to comply with an offer.1 On the face of it, it seems that one cannot be forced to accept an offer as one can always reject the proposal and be no worse off than one would have been had the offer not been made; offers, after all, involve temptations and benefits rather than the pressures and pains associated with threats. Much of the confusion, I would suggest, comes from the common sense tendency to assume that in all cases where Q is forced to choose to do what P wants him to do, P coerces Q. I will argue that coercion is only one "mode of non-voluntary compliance", or one way in which a person can be forced to do what another person wants him or her to do. By distinguishing the different ways one can be forced to comply with another's wishes, I hope to sketch out the various ways that non-voluntary compliance can operate with offers as well as threats.