THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A GENDER-GAP - TOLERANCE AND LIBERALISM IN DENMARK FROM 1971 TO 1990

Based on data from Denmark, the paper examines the development of gend er differences in political tolerance during the 1970s and 1980s. Ther e was a large gender gap in tolerance at th beginning of the 1970s, wh ich had totally disappeared by the end of the 1980s. The analysis show s that at the beginning of the 1970s, the gender gap is partly explain ed by differences in political involvement, interpreted as a result of the different political socialization of men and women. However, part of the difference is unchanged by any control, and this ''unexplained '' difference is interpreted as the result of a specific female cultur e. Against this background, it is surprising that the gender differenc e in political tolerance has vanished only twenty years later. The pap er argues that, during these twenty years, a cultural shift has taken place in Denmark, merging the female and male cultures, and eliminatin g the hitherto ''unexplained'' gender difference.