Inner Democracy and Political Intolerance

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
Hubert J. M. Hermans
Keyword(s):  
Thin Layer ◽  
Political Tolerance ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Democratic Rights

This chapter explores the shaky basis of political tolerance. There exists a contradiction between the broadly shared preference for democracy as a form of national politics and the evident unwillingness to grant democratic rights to disliked groups. This lack of political tolerance suggests that democracy is nothing more than a thin layer of varnish that can be easily scraped away. This observation leads to the question: What, in fact, is inner democracy? The answer lies in three characteristics of inner democracy: (1) space for opposition inside ourselves, (2) cooperation and learning from the diversity of positions we can assume, and (3) participation of a broad repertoire of inner positions, whose distinctive voices can be heard in the interactions with ourselves and with others.

Inequality, Exclusion, and Tolerance for Political Dissent in Latin America

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402199716
Author(s):  
Jana Morgan ◽  
Nathan J. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Political Tolerance ◽  
Time Analysis ◽  
Political Dissent ◽  
Structural Context ◽  
Democratic Rights ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Cross National

Although many countries meet electoral standards of democracy, often these regimes fail to promote social inclusion or meaningful representation. We argue that systems of exclusion have deleterious consequences for how people think about democracy, undermining tolerance for political dissent. Using cross-national public opinion data together with contextual measures of economic and political marginalization along ethnoracial lines, we evaluate the relationships between exclusion and political tolerance across Latin America. Over-time analysis in Bolivia further probes the mechanisms linking exclusion to intolerance. We find that tolerance of dissent is depressed where ethnoracial hierarchies are pronounced. We advance understanding of oft-unexplained society-level differences in political tolerance and emphasize the importance of the macro-structural context in shaping citizens’ commitments to basic democratic rights.

scholarly journals Freedom for All? The Strength and Limits of Political Tolerance

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Petersen ◽  
Rune Slothuus ◽  
Rune Stubager ◽  
Lise Togeby
Keyword(s):  
Political Tolerance ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Group Approach ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Democratic Rights

Most research on political tolerance relying on the ‘least-liked’ group approach has painted a bleak picture of low and feeble levels of tolerance. An alternative approach, permitting an evaluation of the breadth of tolerance, is combined with the use of survey experiments to demonstrate that tolerance varies considerably across target groups. Specifically, the formation of tolerance judgements is shown to differ depending on a group’s association with violent and non-democratic behaviour. Thus, tolerance is high and resilient towards groups that themselves observe democratic rights – even if these groups are disliked or feared. The theory suggests that this is caused by norms of reciprocity and, contrary to extant research, this article shows that within the limits set by these norms, tolerance is strong.

Applications of Photoelectron Microscopy

1976 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 506-507
Author(s):  
William J. Baxter
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Thermal Decomposition ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Ultraviolet Radiation ◽  
Thin Layer ◽  
Edge Effects ◽  
Electron Optics ◽  
Surface Layers ◽  
Crystalline Orientation ◽  
Fluorescent Screen

In this form of electron microscopy, photoelectrons emitted from a metal by ultraviolet radiation are accelerated and imaged onto a fluorescent screen by conventional electron optics. image contrast is determined by spatial variations in the intensity of the photoemission. The dominant source of contrast is due to changes in the photoelectric work function, between surfaces of different crystalline orientation, or different chemical composition. Topographical variations produce a relatively weak contrast due to shadowing and edge effects.Since the photoelectrons originate from the surface layers (e.g. ∼5-10 nm for metals), photoelectron microscopy is surface sensitive. Thus to see the microstructure of a metal the thin layer (∼3 nm) of surface oxide must be removed, either by ion bombardment or by thermal decomposition in the vacuum of the microscope.

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