Abandoning intolerance in a tolerant society : the influence of length of residence on the recognition of political rights among immigrants

• This paper presents and empirically evaluates the idea that individual level political tolerance is influenced by the overall tolerance in society. Hence, the expectation is that more politically tolerant attitudes would be developed as a consequence of exposure to a social environment in which people in general are more inclined to accept freedom of speech, also when the message (or the messenger as such) challenges one’s own values and beliefs. The theoretical base of the analyses is a learning model, according to which more broad-minded and permissive attitudes, from a democratic point of view, are adopted as a result of (1) an adjustment stimulated by mere observation of an overall high-level of political tolerance in society (‘passive learning’), and (2) an adjustment due to cognition and interaction within important spheres in society (‘active learning’). Using surveydata, we explore empirically how length of residence among immigrants in high-tolerance Sweden are related to attitudinal measures of political tolerance, and to what extent a time-related effect is mediated through participation in ‘learning institutions’ of education, working-life, civil society and political involvement. In concert with expectations, the empirical findings suggest that an observed positive effect of time in Sweden on political tolerance may be explained by a gradual adoption of the principle that political rights should be recognized. Such an adoption, however, seems to require participation in activities of learning institutions, as we find that passive learning alone is not sufficient.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Economics

Nationalekonomi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)