Political Intolerance and the Structure of Mass Attitudes: A Study of the United States, Israel, and New Zealand

This article examines the patterns of tolerance and intolerance characterizing the publics of three countries: Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. Beyond the level of tolerance, we study the extent to which the tolerant and intolerant segments of each nation's population are intense in their attitudes, and their degree of agreement about the targets of their intolerance. We find the United States to be characterized by a pattern of “pluralistic intolerance,” Israel by “focused intolerance,” and New Zealand by “pluralistic tolerance.” We then explore the potential of translating these attitudes into intolerant actions and conclude that, given this structure of public opinion, this potential is highest in Israel and lowest in New Zealand.