ABSTRACT
Political tolerance is generally defined as the willingness to extend civil liberties and basic democratic rights to unpopular groups. Political tolerance has, historically, been associated not only with democratic values, but also with classical liberalism. While the evidence for intolerance leading directly to public policy is mixed, intolerance clearly contributes to political repression by creating a populace that is indifferent to the infringement of liberty. Ultimately, the political system loses its democratic vitality. If this is a consequence of mass political intolerance, then, certainly, intolerance matters. The general "culture of conformity" created by political intolerance tends to prohibit speech from anyone outside of mainstream thinking. Ironically, this means that an "intolerance of intolerance" not only silences those who would oppose social justice, but also those who would promote it, and even those they aim to advance. In sum, "liberating tolerance" leads to intolerance in general.
