Word: coercion
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...witness against Payne, later signed a 16-page affidavit stating that he framed Payne because prison officials offered to shave 15 years off his sentence. Thus armed, Khoury marched into a 1991 hearing to reopen his client's case--and was rudely rebuffed. First, Smith recanted his recantation, claiming coercion. Then the judge--who had presided over the original trial--refused to admit Smith's sworn affidavit, ruling that his original credibility was "resolved" by the first jury's belief in him. Finally, the judge declared the new eyewitnesses "unworthy of belief" and let the verdict stand...
When house committees and senior tutors start officially funding and authorizing Sukkahs and nativity scenes in house courtyards, however, Harvard takes a step toward coercion, and away from freedom...
That is well and good as long as it avoids blunt coercion: If you won't follow us, we'll punish you. A heavy hand can galvanize reluctant countries to adopt tougher measures, but when the efficacy and price of the policy are so suspect, it may also produce deep resentment from vitally important friends. At a recent conference in Europe two nato ambassadors smarting from the pressure accused the U.S. of "political gangsterism." What American officials call leadership, many of America's friends around the world call bullying...
...small r, to be sure!) soulcraft" and involves a gentler kind of tutelage. For example, the political economy of citizenship that informed 19th-century American life sought to cultivate not only commonality but also the independence and judgement to deliberate well about the common good. It worked not by coercion or deprivation as most of the present politicians advocate but by a complex mix of persuasion and habituation, what Alexis de Tocqueville, the French observer called "the slow and quiet action of society upon itself...
...people in America, besides being a provocative parlor game, provides a chance to mull over the ideas and visions, tastes and beliefs that affect our lives. Being influential is the reward of successful salesmanship, the validation of personal passion, the visible sign of individual merit. It is power without coercion, celebrity with substance...