{{Short description|Metaphor for the use of punishment and reward}} {{other uses}}
The phrase "'''carrot and stick'''" is a [[metaphor]] for when two different methods of [[incentivisation]] are simultaneously employed; the "carrot", referring to the promising and giving of desired [[reward system|reward]]s in exchange for cooperation; and the "stick", referring to the threat of undesired consequences in response to noncompliance or to compel compliance.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carrot and stick definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/carrot-and-stick|access-date=2021-08-04|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|language=en}}</ref> In [[Realism (international relations)|politics]], the terms are respectively analogous to the concepts of [[Soft power|soft]] and [[hard power]]. A political example of a carrot may be the promise of [[foreign aid]] or [[military aid|military support]], while the stick may be the threat of military action or imposition of [[economic sanction]]s. In religion, the concept of Heaven is considered the "carrot" while Hell is the corresponding "stick".
== Origin == The earliest English-language references to the "carrot and stick" come from authors in the mid-19th century who in turn wrote in reference to a [[caricature]] or [[cartoon]] of the time that depicted a race between donkey riders, with the losing jockey using the strategy of beating his steed with "blackthorn twigs" to urge it forward; meanwhile, the winner of the race has tied a carrot to the end of his stick and simply sits in his saddle relaxing and dangling the carrot in front of his donkey.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/narrativelateex00unkngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/narrativelateex00unkngoog/page/n162 139]|quote=Edward p Montague the idea that persuasion is better than force.|title=Narrative of the late expedition to the Dead Sea: From a diary by one of the party|last=Montague|first=Edward P.|date=1849|publisher=Carey and Hart|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrBBAAAAYAAJ&q=turnips|title=The Children of Mount Ida: And Other Stories|last=Child|first=Lydia Maria|date=1871|publisher=Charles S. Francis|language=en}}</ref> In fact, in some oral traditions, turnips were used instead of carrots as the donkey's temptation.
[[File:Europe Boardman Robinson.jpg|thumb|"Europe 1916", an anti-war cartoon by [[Boardman Robinson]], depicting [[Personifications of death|Death]] enticing an emaciated donkey towards a precipice with a carrot labeled "Victory" at the end of a stick]] Decades later, the idea appeared in a letter from [[Winston Churchill]], dated July 6, 1938: "Thus, by every device from the stick to the carrot, the emaciated Austrian donkey is made to pull the Nazi barrow up an ever-steepening hill."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Safire|first1=William|title=On Language – Gotcha! Gang Strikes Again|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/31/magazine/on-language-gotcha-gang-strikes-again.html|access-date=29 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=December 31, 1995}}</ref>
The earliest uses of the idiom in widely available U.S. periodicals were in ''[[The Economist]]'s'' December 11, 1948 issue and in a ''[[Daily Republic]]'' newspaper article that same year that discussed Russia's economy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4092124/marxist_socialism_abandoned_russian/|title=Marxist Socialism Abandoned, Russian Economy Capitalistic (1948) - on Newspapers.com|newspaper=The Daily Republic|date=24 February 1948 |page=4 |access-date=2016-01-21}}</ref>
In the German language, as well as Russian and Ukrainian, a related idiom translates as ''[[:de:Zuckerbrot und Peitsche|pastry and whip]]''.
In [[Porfiriato|Mexico]], president and dictator [[Porfirio Diaz]] was known for his ''pan o palo'' (bread or stick) policy. While Diaz favored conciliation, he also saw the necessity of violence as an option, epitomized by his statement: "Five fingers or five bullets."<ref>Schell, William Jr., "Politics and Government: 1876–1910" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico''. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997.</ref>
== See also == * [[Aversives]], the use of unpleasant stimuli to change behavior * [[Operant conditioning]], the use of rewards and punishments to change behavior * [[Throffer]], a combination of a threat and an offer
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
== External links == {{commonscat|Carrot and stick}} * EconPapers abstract for an experiment using this model [http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/oreuoecwp/2002-01.htm "The Carrot or the Stick: Rewards, Punishments, and Cooperation"]
{{Carrots}}
{{-}} [[Category:19th-century neologisms]] [[Category:English phrases]] [[Category:English-language idioms]] [[Category:Metaphors referring to food and drink]] [[Category:Coercion]] [[Category:Carrot]]