How Democracies Die

by

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

Mutual Toleration Term Analysis

Mutual toleration is the democratic norm that politicians recognize their opposition as legitimate rivals for power. Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that, along with institutional forbearance, mutual toleration is one of the two key norms that holds democracies together.

Mutual Toleration Quotes in How Democracies Die

The How Democracies Die quotes below are all either spoken by Mutual Toleration or refer to Mutual Toleration. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Mutual toleration refers to the idea that as long as our rivals play by constitutional rules, we accept that they have an equal right to exist, compete for power, and govern. We may disagree with, and even strongly dislike, our rivals, but we nevertheless accept them as legitimate. This means recognizing that our political rivals are decent, patriotic, law-abiding citizens—that they love our country and respect the Constitution just as we do. It means that even if we believe our opponents’ ideas to be foolish or wrong-headed, we do not view them as an existential threat. Nor do we treat them as treasonous, subversive, or otherwise beyond the pale. We may shed tears on election night when the other side wins, but we do not consider such an event apocalyptic. Put another way, mutual toleration is politicians’ collective willingness to agree to disagree.

Related Characters: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (speaker)
Page Number: 102
Explanation and Analysis:

Mutual toleration and institutional forbearance are closely related. Sometimes they reinforce each other. Politicians are more likely to be forbearing when they accept one another as legitimate rivals, and politicians who do not view their rivals as subversive will be less tempted to resort to norm breaking to keep them out of power. Acts of forbearance—for example, a Republican-controlled Senate approving a Democratic president’s Supreme Court pick—will reinforce each party’s belief that the other side is tolerable, promoting a virtuous circle.

Related Characters: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (speaker)
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis:

But the opposite can also occur. The erosion of mutual toleration may motivate politicians to deploy their institutional powers as broadly as they can get away with. When parties view one another as mortal enemies, the stakes of political competition heighten dramatically. Losing ceases to be a routine and accepted part of the political process and instead becomes a full-blown catastrophe. When the perceived cost of losing is sufficiently high, politicians will be tempted to abandon forbearance. Acts of constitutional hardball may then in turn further undermine mutual toleration, reinforcing beliefs that our rivals pose a dangerous threat.

Related Characters: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (speaker)
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis:

Polarization can destroy democratic norms. When socioeconomic, racial, or religious differences give rise to extreme partisanship, in which societies sort themselves into political camps whose worldviews are not just different but mutually exclusive, toleration becomes harder to sustain. Some polarization is healthy—even necessary—for democracy. And indeed, the historical experience of democracies in Western Europe shows us that norms can be sustained even where parties are separated by considerable ideological differences. But when societies grow so deeply divided that parties become wedded to incompatible worldviews, and especially when their members are so socially segregated that they rarely interact, stable partisan rivalries eventually give way to perceptions of mutual threat. As mutual toleration disappears, politicians grow tempted to abandon forbearance and try to win at all costs. This may encourage the rise of antisystem groups that reject democracy’s rules altogether. When that happens, democracy is in trouble.

Related Characters: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (speaker)
Page Number: 115
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

The norms sustaining our political system rested, to a considerable degree, on racial exclusion. The stability of the period between the end of Reconstruction and the 1980s was rooted in an original sin: the Compromise of 1877 and its aftermath, which permitted the de-democratization of the South and the consolidation of Jim Crow. Racial exclusion contributed directly to the partisan civility and cooperation that came to characterize twentieth-century American politics.
[…]
The process of racial inclusion that began after World War II and culminated in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act would, at long last, fully democratize the United States. But it would also polarize it, posing the greatest challenge to established forms of mutual toleration and forbearance since Reconstruction.

Related Characters: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (speaker)
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

Where a society’s political divisions are crosscutting, we line up on different sides of issues with different people at different times. We may disagree with our neighbors on abortion but agree with them on health care; we may dislike another neighbor’s views on immigration but agree with them on the need to raise the minimum wage. Such alliances help us build and sustain norms of mutual toleration. When we agree with our political rivals at least some of the time, we are less likely to view them as mortal enemies.

Related Characters: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (speaker)
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mutual Toleration Term Timeline in How Democracies Die

The timeline below shows where the term Mutual Toleration appears in How Democracies Die. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction
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Authoritarianism vs. Democratic Norms Theme Icon
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...unless “unwritten democratic norms” reinforce them. In the U.S., the two key norms are mutual toleration (accepting the other side as legitimate) and institutional forbearance (refraining from using all of one’s... (full context)
Chapter 5: The Guardrails of Democracy
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...background. But politicians who break them face serious consequences. The two main rules are mutual toleration and institutional forbearance. (full context)
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Mutual toleration means that politicians accept their opponents’ right to participate in the system as equals, so... (full context)
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...Catholics wanted to overthrow democracy. Neither saw the other as a legitimate opponent. Without mutual toleration, democracy fails, because each side is willing to take antidemocratic measures to win. That’s what... (full context)
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The two key democratic norms, mutual toleration and institutional forbearance, tend to work together. When forbearance predominates, rivals are more likely to... (full context)
Chapter 6: The Unwritten Rules of American Politics
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But again, the parties gradually reestablished mutual toleration. However, this didn’t happen until after Reconstruction ended in the Compromise of 1877 and Henry... (full context)
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In the 20th century, mutual toleration and institutional forbearance allowed the U.S. political system to function smoothly. They kept the executive,... (full context)
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While mutual toleration and institutional forbearance predominated in the 20th century U.S., they also broke down in three... (full context)
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Second, during the Cold War, Republican senator Joseph McCarthy dispensed with mutual toleration by pushing to purge known and suspected communists from the government. But in less than... (full context)
Chapter 7: The Unraveling
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Mutual toleration also broke down during the Bush administration. After 9/11, conservative media commentators like Ann Coulter... (full context)
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During Obama’s second term, the Republican Party increasingly embraced the Tea Party. It rejected mutual toleration by arguing that Democrats threatened the existence of the U.S., and it used this threat... (full context)
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...Democratic, and each side became more ideologically extreme and less willing to compromise. But mutual toleration has particularly eroded because the parties now represent different “social, ethnic, and cultural bases.” Enfranchised... (full context)
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...America Great Again.” Republicans have learned that it’s advantageous for them to abandon norms of toleration and forbearance and instead treat politics as a war against their Democratic enemies. (full context)
Chapter 9: Saving Democracy
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...book’s key lessons: in the U.S., democracy has depended on the key norms of mutual toleration and institutional forbearance. The founders thought that well-designed institutions would be enough to stop tyranny,... (full context)
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...Such coalitions can appeal to a broader range of voters, fight polarization, and build mutual toleration. (full context)