Reconsidering tolerance: insights from political theory and three experiments

Journal article

Abstract:: Tolerance underlies many contemporary controversies, yet theorists and political scientists study it in strikingly different ways. This article bridges the gap by using recent developments in political theory to enrich empirical research and extend the study of tolerance to contexts beyond liberal democracies, such as authoritarian regimes. Our recommendations challenge dominant liberal-democratic frameworks by emphasizing variation across the (1) objects of tolerance; (2) possible responses to difference; and (3) sources of tolerance. We then illustrate the promise of our recommendations with three theoretically informed experiments inspired by historical debates about religious conversion. Our results suggest a marked ‘convert effect’ across not only contemporary religious but also secular political divides, with the same difference in terms of content viewed as less tolerable when resulting from conversion than when given or ascribed. The research demonstrates the benefits of greater dialogue across political theory and political science, while shedding light on a central question of tolerance today.

Files:: Jones_and_Bejan_2019_Reconsidering_tolerance_insights.pdf

(Preview, Accepted manuscript, 550.1KB, Terms of use)

Language:: English
Keywords:: conversion

toleration

tolerance

interdisciplinary

FFR

experiments

identity
Pubs id:: 1170276
Local pid:: pubs:1170276
Deposit date:: 2022-01-07

Copyright holder:: Cambridge University Press
Notes:: This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Cambridge University Press at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123419000279

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