Abizadeh, 'On Coercion'

Arash Abizadeh
(Political Theory 36/1):

P’s threat subjects Q to coercion only if

• P communicates to Q his intention to cause outcome X if Q undertakes action A.
  
• Q believes that X ∩ A is worse for her than (⌐X) ∩ (⌐A),’ such that X provides Q a reason not to do A.
  
• P’s reason for threatening X is his belief that X provides Q a reason not to do A.
  
• Q believes that P has the capacity to cause X and intends to do so if Q does A.
  

But P’s threat actually coerces Q’s (in)action only if two further conditions are met as well:

• Q does not do A.
  
• Part of Q’s reason for not doing A is to avoid X.