ABSTRACT
Uncertainty translates as unintended consequences or what Hirschman calls the doctrine of the perverse effect, which he views as a conservative reaction against progressive change. The principled John Stuart Mill speaks of the necessities of compromise, the art of sacrificing the non-essential to preserve the essential. There may be acts that provide a general benefit, but the result of negotiation can be described as tradeoffs in which sacrifices as well as gains occur. Cass Sunstein argues that the price representatives pay in allowing their constituencies the right to instruct them is the freedom to deliberate independently on issues and to negotiate with representatives of different constituencies. Thomas Nagel is right to caution us against the authoritarian risks in such a pursuit. The successful revolution is a comparative rarity, especially in places where the political tradition is authoritarian and there are no democratic institutions.
