Carrot and stick

Carrot and Stick Approach (also "carrot or stick approach") is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It is named in reference to a cart driver dangling a carrot in front of a mule and holding a stick behind it. The mule would move towards the carrot because it wants the reward of food, while also moving away from the stick behind it, since it does not want the punishment of pain, thus drawing the cart.

Supported by the fact that the mule cannot move away from the stick, and that using a carrot and a stick simultaneously is redundant, some claim that this usage of phrase is erroneous, and that it in fact comes from the figure of a carrot on a stick. In this case, the driver would tie a carrot on a string to a long stick and dangle it in front of the donkey, just out of its reach. As the donkey moved forward to get the carrot, it pulled the cart and the driver so that the carrot would always remain out of reach.

The idiom is used in the field of International Relations to describe the realist concept of 'hard power'. The carrot can stand for tax cuts or other benefits, the stick can stand for the use of (psychological) violence and threats by the government.

The earliest citation of this expression recorded by the Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary is to The Economist magazine in the December 11, 1948, issue.

See also

• Crook and flail
• Feedback loop
• Manipulation
• Norm of reciprocity
• Reciprocity of twist and wrench
• Stick licensing
• Two-way communication
• Office of Multilateral Diplomacy

External links

• Paul Brians, Department of English, Washington State University “Carrot on a stick” vs. “the carrot or the stick.”
• EconPapers abstract for an experiment using this model "The Carrot or the Stick: Rewards, Punishments, and Cooperation"