Offsetting the full achievement of one goal against the partial achievement of another or many others.
Trade-offs occur very frequently in political situations. Democratic governments pursue many political goals simultaneously. Although for analytical reasons they are often separated, in the reality of political decision-making the pursuance of one particular goal or instrument is more or less constrained by a variety of other instruments. For example, impacts on the welfare position of particular groups of the population, impacts on industrial competition, employment effects and environmental considerations may all impinge on the attainment of a newly-formulated policy goal or electoral promise.