# Carrot and stick > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Carrot_and_stick > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Carrot_and_stick.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_and_stick > Source revision: 1337850378 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Metaphor for the use of punishment and reward For other uses, see [Carrot and stick (disambiguation)](/source/Carrot_and_stick_(disambiguation)). The phrase "**carrot and stick**" is a [metaphor](/source/Metaphor) for when two different methods of [incentivisation](/source/Incentivisation) are simultaneously employed; the "carrot", referring to the promising and giving of desired [rewards](/source/Reward_system) in exchange for cooperation; and the "stick", referring to the threat of undesired consequences in response to noncompliance or to compel compliance.[1] In [politics](/source/Realism_(international_relations)), the terms are respectively analogous to the concepts of [soft](/source/Soft_power) and [hard power](/source/Hard_power). A political example of a carrot may be the promise of [foreign aid](/source/Foreign_aid) or [military support](/source/Military_aid), while the stick may be the threat of military action or imposition of [economic sanctions](/source/Economic_sanction). 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](/source/Caricature) or [cartoon](/source/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.[2][3] In fact, in some oral traditions, turnips were used instead of carrots as the donkey's temptation. "Europe 1916", an anti-war cartoon by [Boardman Robinson](/source/Boardman_Robinson), depicting [Death](/source/Personifications_of_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](/source/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."[4] The earliest uses of the idiom in widely available U.S. periodicals were in *[The Economist](/source/The_Economist)'s* December 11, 1948 issue and in a *[Daily Republic](/source/Daily_Republic)* newspaper article that same year that discussed Russia's economy.[5] In the German language, as well as Russian and Ukrainian, a related idiom translates as *[pastry and whip](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuckerbrot_und_Peitsche)*. In [Mexico](/source/Porfiriato), president and dictator [Porfirio Diaz](/source/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."[6] ## See also - [Aversives](/source/Aversives), the use of unpleasant stimuli to change behavior - [Operant conditioning](/source/Operant_conditioning), the use of rewards and punishments to change behavior - [Throffer](/source/Throffer), a combination of a threat and an offer ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Carrot and stick definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/carrot-and-stick). *www.collinsdictionary.com*. Retrieved 2021-08-04. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Montague, Edward P. (1849). [*Narrative of the late expedition to the Dead Sea: From a diary by one of the party*](https://archive.org/details/narrativelateex00unkngoog). Carey and Hart. p. [139](https://archive.org/details/narrativelateex00unkngoog/page/n162). Edward p Montague the idea that persuasion is better than force. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Child, Lydia Maria (1871). [*The Children of Mount Ida: And Other Stories*](https://books.google.com/books?id=JrBBAAAAYAAJ&q=turnips). Charles S. Francis. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Safire, William (December 31, 1995). ["On Language – Gotcha! Gang Strikes Again"](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/31/magazine/on-language-gotcha-gang-strikes-again.html). *New York Times*. Retrieved 29 January 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Marxist Socialism Abandoned, Russian Economy Capitalistic (1948) - on Newspapers.com"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4092124/marxist_socialism_abandoned_russian/). *The Daily Republic*. 24 February 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 2016-01-21. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Schell, William Jr., "Politics and Government: 1876–1910" in *Encyclopedia of Mexico*. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997. ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Carrot and stick](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Carrot_and_stick). - EconPapers abstract for an experiment using this model ["The Carrot or the Stick: Rewards, Punishments, and Cooperation"](http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/oreuoecwp/2002-01.htm) v t e Carrots Culinary usage Apio Carrot bread Carrot cake Carrot cake cookie Carrot chip Carrot juice Carrot pudding Carrot salad Carrot soup Cezerye Gajar ka halwa Hutspot Kinpira Mashed carrots Morkovcha Porkkanalaatikko Tzimmes Related topics Baby carrot Carotene Carrot and stick Carrot fly Carrot harvester Carrot orange Carrot seed oil Daucus carota List of carrot diseases Carrot dishes --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Carrot and stick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_and_stick) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_and_stick?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.