ABSTRACT

The eventual solution to the problem of pluralism was to provide individuals with rights that were institutionally protected and policed. Once institutionalised, conflicts between competing claims could be adjudicated through rules which were procedural rather than substantive. By never consistently favouring any one party, the rules convinced people to play fairly and to act tolerantly. People were loyal not only to themselves but also to the institutions through which their conflicts were resolved. Although this solution may seem obvious enough, it took an exceedingly long time before it became universally accepted. Throughout Europe state repression and indoctrination continued well into the nineteenth century and it was only in the latter part of the twentieth century that all authoritarian regimes finally were discredited. But even today not everyone is a pluralist and, as we discussed, fundamentalism constantly reappears in one or another of its ever mutating guises.