Does intolerance dampen dissent? Macro-tolerance and protest in American metropolitan areas

Claassen, C. and Gibson, J. L. (2019) Does intolerance dampen dissent? Macro-tolerance and protest in American metropolitan areas. Political Behavior, 41(1), pp. 165-185. (doi: 10.1007/s11109-018-9444-x)

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Abstract

Political tolerance has long been regarded as one of the most important democratic values because intolerant political cultures are believed to foster conformity and inhibit dissent. Although widely endorsed, this theory has rarely been investigated. Using multilevel regression with poststratification to measure levels of macro-tolerance in U.S. metropolitan areas, and event data to measure rates of protest, we test whether cultures of intolerance do indeed inhibit public expressions of dissent. We find that they do: levels of macro-tolerance are positively and strongly associated with higher rates of protest in American metropolitan areas. Our findings have implications for the study of political tolerance, for normative theories of free speech and other civil liberties, and for scholarship on protest and collective action.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This research was made possible by a Grant from the National Science Foundation to Gibson (‘‘Creating a State-Level Public Opinion Data Base for Law and Courts Scholarship: New Frontiers in Research on the Public’s Views of Third Branch Politics,’’ SES 1228619). The Freedom and Tolerance Surveys upon which this paper relies were funded by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Claassen, Professor Christopher
Authors: Claassen, C., and Gibson, J. L.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
Journal Name:Political Behavior
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:0190-9320
ISSN (Online):1573-6687
Published Online:16 January 2018
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
First Published:First published in Political Behavior 41(1): 165-185
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

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