Principled Tolerance and the American Mass Public

Americans appear to be more tolerant of deviant opinions and life-styles now than they were a generation ago. Recent research by Sullivan and his colleagues suggests, however, that this apparent change is largely illusory – a product not of an increase in principled support for tolerance, but rather...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of political science 1989-01, Vol.19 (1), p.25-45
Main Authors: Sniderman, Paul M., Tetlock, Philip E., Glaser, James M., Green, Donald Philip, Hout, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil liberties
Communism
Conservatism
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND INSTITUTIONS
Freedom of speech
Homosexuality
Liberalism
Lifestyles
Militarism
Perceptions
Political Philosophy
Political science
Public Opinion
Racism
Repressive tolerance
Social research
Social surveys
SOCIAL, POLITICAL TOLERANCE OR INTOLERANCE
Tolerance
TOLERANCE OR INTOLERANCE
Toleration
U.S.A
United States
UNITED STATES, 1945 TO PRESENT
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Summary:Americans appear to be more tolerant of deviant opinions and life-styles now than they were a generation ago. Recent research by Sullivan and his colleagues suggests, however, that this apparent change is largely illusory – a product not of an increase in principled support for tolerance, but rather of shifts in public dislike for, and hence intolerance of, particular political groups. An alternative account of tolerance is proposed which shows that citizen attitudes on issues of tolerance are remarkably consistent – far more so than has been commonly appreciated. In particular, the empirical analysis distinguishes two kinds of consistency – ‘principled’ and ‘situational’. Using log-linear techniques, it demonstrates that substantial numbers of the general public now support a variety of forms of tolerance consistently; and do so, not for reasons peculiar to each, but rather on principle. The broader implications of the results for the study of public opinion and democratic theory are noted.
ISSN:0007-1234
1469-2112
DOI:10.1017/S0007123400005305