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Thick-Skinned Liberalism: Redefining Civility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Richard C. Sinopoli
Richard C. Sinopoli
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
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Abstract

Anorm of civility defines a standard of conduct that citizens can rightfully expect from strangers. What are appropriate norms of civility for citizens of liberal states? I argue that two approaches to civility are prominent in our political culture, one requiring “mere” tolerance, the other, that we affirm the worth of others' pursuits (and thereby the worth of those others). This split parallels a division in liberal theory between an interest-based account of liberalism (represented primarily by J. S. Mill) and a status-based account (represented principally by John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin), respectively. The exploration of this theoretical divide and how it relates to contending notions of civility helps to clarify disputes in the broader culture. I conclude that interest-based liberalism offers a more satisfactory approach to the issue at hand.

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Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , September 1995 , pp. 612 - 620
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1995

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