A tolerant republic?

Rainer Forst

pp. 209-220

in: German ideologies since 1945, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003

Abstrakt

There are several reasons that account for the difficulty of giving a clear and sufficient answer to the broad question of whether the Federal Republic of Germany is a "tolerant republic." One problem is that the very concept of toleration is elusive and open to a number of—at times even contradictory—interpretations. Furthermore, an answer to that question very much depends on what one primarily looks at: constitutional principles, legal and political practice, public discourse, general social and cultural attitudes, etc. And finally, the question could refer to the present situation only, but it could also call for a complex overall assessment of the historical development of tolerant attitudes and practices.