It is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to describe the need to come to a decision or conclusion. For example, "It was obvious that the evidence and testimony had to compel a decision."
Evidence does not, as some claim, necessarily compel a particular decision.
James T.B. Tripp, the general counsel of Environmental Defense, a Manhattan-based lobbying group, said the long-term reformulation plan would compel a federal decision on the fate of oceanfront houses.
They have total control over whether to extend the talks with the F.T.C. staff or to end the discussions and try to compel a final decision by the five commissioners who head the agency.
But while the first suit, brought by a group called the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, was at its basic level a challenge of the state's financing formula for New York City, the second suit is aimed at compelling a court decision on the question of adequacy of education in poorer districts all around the state.
It may compel a postponement of the decision to start on renewal until after the next general election.
The administration has opposed all legal efforts by Mr. Awlaki's father and others to compel a court review of the decision to have him killed.
The Florida Supreme Court decision not to compel a recount in Miami-Dade County left Vice President Al Gore with only two choices, both of which he has taken pains to avoid: concede the election, or contest it.
When the Germans resumed their offensive in mid-February, the Bolshevik Central Committee was compelled to make a decision; Trotsky and his followers abstained from the vote, and Lenin's acceptance of the German terms was endorsed.
