Towards a history of compromise: comparing political unions in the British-Irish Isles and Poland-Lithuania

Abstract

This article is a modified and expanded version of the British Academy Raleigh Lecture, delivered at Queen�s University Belfast. It argues that historians, as opposed to political scientists, sociologists, and philosophers, have neglected the history of compromise and compromises, despite compromise being a significant social and political practice. It considers how historians might approach the problem of compromise, and what a historical perspective might add to study of compromise. It concludes with a comparative consideration of three political unions, between Poland and Lithuania, between England and Scotland, and between England/Britain and Ireland from the point of view of a historian of compromise.