The Impact of Tolerance on Political Behavior.

The importance of the concept of tolerance for the successful operation of a democratic political system is evident by the large and growing literature treating aspects of it. Much of the earlier work on tolerance either focused on defining the concept and describing trends in the level of tolerance or in identifying whole system attributes that cause variation in that concept. This paper seeks to explain the effects of tolerance in a society, accounting for both individual and state political behavior. We find that as the level of tolerance in a state increases, the country's respect for human rights also increases. We also find that as an individual's level of tolerance increase, so too do their support for democratic government, interest in politics, and rejection of authoritarianism, among other behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]