CIVIL LIBERTIESCivil libertarians might feel more alarmed by
the polls’ findings regarding public ignorance about
constitutional rights. According to one survey,
only 56 percent of Americans were aware of the
innocent-until-proven-guilty principle (Parisi 1979).
In another study, only one-third of the respon-
dents correctly indicated the truth or falsehood of
a statement regarding double jeopardy (McGarrell
and Flanagan 1985).
Review of the studies cited above implies two
major conclusions about public opinion regarding
civil liberties. First, social determinants of support
for civil liberties are likely to be complex and to
change over time. Second, the specific focus of
concern surrounding civil liberties—for example,
the rights of communists versus those of crooks—
may predominantly affect their support among
citizens. Continual exercise of pertinent sociologi-
cal research tools is required to maintain aware-
ness of civil liberties-related attitudes and trends;
associated theories appear in periodic need of
reconstruction.
There is good evidence that sociological think-
ing and research techniques can promote under-
standing of the consequences of public decisions
regarding civil liberties and help balance civil liber-
ties and community needs. Etzioni’s critique in-
cludes a recommendation for ‘‘limited adjustment’’
of civil liberties in the interests of society. Criteria
for activation of limited adjustment include a ‘‘clear
and present danger’’ of sufficient gravity to ‘‘en-
danger large numbers of lives, if not the very
existence of our society,’’ and a ‘‘direct link be-
tween cause and effect.’’ As illustrations, Etzioni
cites nuclear weapons, crack cocaine, and AIDS.
He recommends minimal interference with consti-
tutional rights, seeking remedies whenever possi-
ble that do not actually involve civil liberties.
Even the most measured approach to ‘‘adjust-
ment’’ of civil liberties, though, raises issues for
social theory and research. Designation of ‘‘clear
and present danger’’ is as much a social fact as one
of nuclear physics, pharmacology, and epidemiology.
Civil libertarians may justifiably ask what makes
crack cocaine a potential threat to society while
other narcotics, while causing significant human
misery, have not brought society down. Similar
issues may be raised regarding AIDS, a biologically
less-contagious disease than the traditional scourges
of syphilis and gonorrhea. To what extent, re-
searchers should ask, may the objective signifi-
cance of these threats have been exaggerated by
public emotion?The impacts of small modifications of civil
liberties on the problems these measures are in-
tended to ameliorate should also be viewed as
empirical issues. Does contact-tracking of people
with AIDS actually drive some underground, mak-
ing their disease invisible to society and hence
more dangerous? If so, how many go underground,
for how long, and by what means? Research on
likely behavior of people with AIDS and other
stigmatized diseases is an essential adjunct to relat-
ed public decision making.Finally, the degree to which minor adjustment
may ultimately weaken the fabric of civil liberties is
a necessary direction for research. Etzioni puts
aside the notion that minor modification may
initiate a slide down the ‘‘slippery slope’’ toward
government or communitarian domination by cit-
ing the innocuous nature of procedures such as
child fingerprinting. But systematic examination
of many seemingly small adjustments may indicate
that some indeed result in cascades of increasingly
pernicious modifications. Study of the conditions
under which the minor modification of traditions
has in fact led to their eventual collapse could form
the basis of a relevant theory.REFERENCES
Adorno, Theodore W. et al. 1950 The Authoritarian
Personality. New York: Harper.
Etzioni, Amitai 1991 ‘‘Too Many Rights, Too Few Re-
sponsibilities.’’ Society 28:41–48.
Lipset, Seymour M. 1981 Political Man. New York:
Doubleday.
McGarrell, E.F., and T. Flanagan (eds.) 1985 Sourcebook
of Criminal Justice Statistics—1984. Washington, D.C.:
Department of Justice.
Parisi, Nicolette et al. (eds) 1979 Sourcebook of Criminal
Justice Statistics—1978. Washington, D.C.: Depart-
ment of Justice.
Schuman, Howard, Lawrence Bobo, and Maria Krysan
1992 ‘‘Authoritarianism in the General Population:
The Education Interaction Hypothesis.’’ Social Psy-
chology Quarterly 55:379–387.
Shaw, Greg M. et al. 1998 ‘‘Crime, the Police and Civil
Liberties.’’ Public Opinion Quarterly 62:405–426.