Do special interests have to be compromised or sacrificed in order to pursue the more general welfare of society?

This depends on how one considers:

1. The preferences of special interests;
2. The composition of social welfare and how it is weighed;
3. The meaning of 'sacrifice' with respect to the latter.

For example, if the preferences of special interests match with that of society, assuming society can have aggregated preferences, then no loss would be possible, since doing what special interests wanted would match society. Even if this were not the case, it may still be possible that the preferences of special interests do not directly conflict with society or even that such conflict is preferable; if these were true, then there would not be a 'loss' in a strict sense. Finally, if the last three points don't hold, then it could still be that what special interests may desire in the short-term is, in the long-run, disastrous and, therefore, it is not truly a sacrifice to be forced into doing the 'good thing' for society.