ABSTRACT
The established institutions and customs of a liberal democracy are a key theme in debates over the accommodation of cultural diversity. Some of these institutions and customs are political in the sense of being informed by liberal democratic values and norms. Liberal multiculturalism is both remedial and prophylactic. It is an attempt to correct or redress the longstanding denial of rights, equality, and inclusion of cultural minorities and their members and also an attempt to protect against their further and future abridgement. The distinction between an autonomy-cum-identity liberalism and a toleration-cum-procedural liberalism fits this context both normatively and, to a large extent, descriptively, as most Western states now ask newcomers only to abide by liberal democratic institutions and law and not to be true believers in liberalism. Liberal citizens are thus at liberty to engage in non-autonomous behavior in much of their everyday lives. A considerable realm of autonomy-based liberalism effectively coincides with a tolerant liberal state.
