Civil Liberties Upheld More by Community Leaders Than General Public, Stouffer Says

Civil liberties receive stronger support from America's community leaders than from the general public, Samuel A. Stouffer, professor of Sociology, reports in the April 5 issue of Look Magazine.

Stouffer, basing his article on a nationwide poll taken last summer for the Ford Foundation's Fund for the Republic, cautions against interpreting the findings as evidence of widespread concern about civil liberties. "These opinions do not reflect deep personal anxiety or concern," he says. "The American people do not lie awake nights worrying about either communists or civil liberties."

Community leaders such as mayors, American Legion Commanders and labor union presidents all display more tolerance than the public generally, the poll showed. For example, about twice as many leaders as members of the public at large would permit public speeches "against churches or religion." A similar ratio of leaders to public would permit an admitted Communist to speak publicly.

Stouffer noted that younger people were more inclined than their elders "to protect the rights of people who hold 'offbeat' ideas." He also observed that persons with more education were similarly more tolerant.

The poll showed that women are less tolerant of nonconformity than men and that churchgoers also are intolerant of nonconformity.

Distressed by the general lack of interest in civil liberties, he concluded with the warning, "The evils of communism are great, but the disorient of civil rights is no less dangerous to our freedom.