Conformity pressure suppresses dissent and alternative evaluation in policy decisions

Evidence

If one can trust survey data, then, it seems possible to develop a workable political consensus around some “soft” affirmative action policies. African Americans and Latinos will always support these policies more strongly than will whites, and women will support them somewhat more strongly than will men. But that is no different from the pattern of support for any policy measure that benefits some citizens more than or at the expense of others. The likelihood of different levels of enthusiasm does not stop politicians and policy planners from initiating new laws and regulations, so long as they can forge a set of rules that some people strongly endorse and most can tolerate. There might be such a set of rules to be found within the wide range of possibilities for affirmative action policy, if the troops would declare a truce in the culture war long enough to move warily toward a no-man’s-land in the center. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1990 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Conformist transmission is triggered by difficulty, uncertainty, and stakes — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 181; Promotion-based career judiciaries trade selection bias for conformity pressure — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 552; Echo chambers convert the social-corrective group effect into conformity pressure — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 120 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Differential enthusiasm for a policy does not preclude forging a tolerable consensus #complicates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1990