Politics & Government
The Paradox of Toleration in Liberal Democracies
Quick fact
The philosopher Karl Popper, who coined the paradox, argued that unlimited tolerance leads to the disappearance of tolerance. Today, countries like Germany ban Nazi symbols and parties, while the United States allows even offensive speech—showing how real democracies resolve the paradox differently.
Why this is interesting
A liberal democracy promises to tolerate almost everything—but should it tolerate those who want to abolish tolerance itself? If it does, it may hand them the keys to power.