ABSTRACT
At the same time, ‘principles’ must have a certain generality about them. A list of the candidate’s ‘stands’ on a number of specific issues would be equally defective as a statement of his principles. It too would have limited predictive value for it would not tell us how the candidate would decide any issue which was not on the list. What is required, then, in a statement of principles is something between a string of high abstractions and a list of
specific ‘planks’ in a ‘platform’. In particular, it should contain (a) ends of a medium level of abstraction, such as the maintenance of private enterprise or a move towards public ownership, commitment to NATO or to neutrality, and so on; and (b) a statement of the relative weights to be given to medium-range considerations where they seem likely to conflict, e.g. the relative importance of economic growth and inflation, or of the independence of trade unions and the requirements of an incomes policy.
