The Clash of Rights: Liberty, Equality, and Legitimacy in Pluralist DemocracyWhy do citizens in pluralist democracies disagree collectively about the very values they agree on individually? This provocative book highlights the inescapable conflicts of rights and values at the heart of democratic politics. Based on interviews with thousands of citizens and political decision makers, the book focuses on modern Canadian politics, investigating why a country so fortunate in its history and circumstances is on the brink of dissolution. Taking advantage of new techniques of computer-assisted interviewing, the authors explore the politics of a wide array of issues, from freedom of expression to public funding of religious schools to government wiretapping to antihate legislation, analyzing not only why citizens take the positions they do but also how easily they can be talked out of them. In the process, the authors challenge a number of commonly held assumptions about democratic politics. They show, for example, that political elites do not constitute a special bulwark protecting civil liberties; that arguments over political rights are as deeply driven by commitment to the master values of democratic politics as by failure to understand them; and that consensus on the rights of groups is inherently more fragile than on the rights of individuals. |
Contents
TWO THE THESIS OF DEMOCRATIC ELITISM | 14 |
SEVEN THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE | 191 |
EIGHT VALUE PLURALISM | 235 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS | 263 |
| 279 | |
Other editions - View all
The Clash of Rights: Liberty, Equality, and Legitimacy in Pluralist Democracy Paul M. Sniderman No preview available - 1996 |
Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal Aboriginal rights abstract affirmative action American anglophones antihate legislation argument attitudes believe bilingualism Canada Canadian politics Charter of Rights civil liberties claims clash cleavage commitment comparisons political elites comparisons public conflict consensus Conservatives constitutional context contrast counterargument Court democratic elitism democratic rights democratic values disagree elite groups elites by party Elites istrative Elites Elites Partisan Elites English Canadians equal rights equality of outcome favor francophones freedom of expression French Canadians funding of religious group rights groups by sector homosexuals idea important issue language rights Legal Elites liberal democracy Liberal NDP majority McClosky mobility rights native norms oppose ordinary Canadians ordinary citizens parliamentary sovereignty percent Pierre Trudeau political culture politics of equality politics of rights position principle provinces public funding Quebec question racists reactions religious schools responses sample significance of comparisons social specific statistical significance thesis of democratic tion tolerance unique rights Value Pluralism wiretapping