NEWS JUNKIE POST
Sep 21, 2009 at 1:59 amThe Perception Of Serious Lack Of Political Tolerance Is Global
A new poll from World Public Opinion of 24 nations from around the world finds a widespread perception of a serious lack of political tolerance. Large majorities perceive that people in their country are not completely free to express unpopular views, that opposition parties do not get a fair chance to express their views and try to influence government decisions, and that legislators have limited freedom to express views that differ from their political parties.
The poll finds overwhelming worldwide support for the principle that diversity of political expressions should be allowed and protected. The poll was conducted with 21,285 respondents in 24 nations that comprise 64 percent of the world’s population, including of course the largest nations such as China, India and the United States.
When asked how free they think people are to express unpopular views in their country, without fear of being harassed or punished, in no nations did a majority of people said they were completely free. On average across all nations polled, just 24 percent said people were completely free to express unpopular political views ( 24 percent in the US), 42 percent average said they were somewhat free (58 percent in the US), and 30 percent said that they were not very free (16 percent in the US).
When asked how often opposition parties get “a fair chance to express their views and try to influence government,” on average only 37 percent said “most of the time” (45 percent in the US), while 38 percent said “only sometimes” (40 percent in the US), and 20 percent said “rarely” (13 percent in the US).
These perceptions of a lack of political tolerance are in sharp contrast to overwhelming support for the freedom to express diverse views. When asked “How important do you think it is for people to be free to express unpopular views, without fear of being harassed or punished?” Majorities in all nations said that such freedom is very or somewhat important. On average, 86 percent said this freedom is important, and 58 percent called it very important.
The poll was released to mark the International Day of Democracy, on September 15TH. It shows clearly that the world’s citizens want more political tolerance. There is a huge popular aspiration across the world for more democracy, as the only system of government that can provide people’s fundamental rights and freedoms, more equitable distribution of wealth, and greater security for their families. At the same time, many people are not convince by the way democracy is working in practice.
A key principle of democracy is political tolerance. Political tolerance means accepting and respecting the basic rights and civil liberties of persons and groups with point of views differing from one’s own. It is the foundation of democratic dialogue and political pluralism. This is something that we should all keep in mind, across the political spectrum, in an effort to bring some much needed civility to our public discourse.
For the full report of World Public Opinion on political tolerance click here.
