awareness and interest and by doing so foster a sense of efficacy and motivation to
participate in debate-oriented politics. He calls this the conflict hypothesis1: diversity will
promote conflict-oriented engagement. The consensus hypothesis, in contrast, expects the
very opposite: political engagement should be highest in homogenous settings because
strong norms of participation can only develop in such environments. Campbell further
notes that it may depend on the kind of setting which of the two hypotheses applies. In
micro-environments characterized by frequent and intense interaction diversity may well
depress debating-style participation as people seek to prevent clashes with people close to
them (see also Mutz 2002). In larger units such as neighborhoods, cities and regions
where interaction is more sporadic and shallow, people are not likely to have this
inhibition and the mechanism postulated by the conflict hypothesis may thus well apply.
Campbell (2007) indeed provides support for the first part of this conjecture. He found
classroom racial diversity to be negatively related to classroom political discussion in the
United States, a result he attributed to the propensity of teachers in diverse classes to
avoid topics that could lead to open conflict between students of different ethno groups.
Thus, while diversity at the micro-level may have favorable effects on tolerance it may
well at the same time undermine engagement and participation.
England, Germany and Sweden
Exploring the relation between classroom diversity and civic attitudes in England,
Germany and Sweden is interesting because each of these countries can be said to
represent a distinct cultural and political tradition. With regard to issues of national
identity and ethnic minority cultures, England has often been associated with a civic
sense of nationhood and multicultural policies recognizing and fostering ethnic minority
cultures. By contract, ethno-cultural conceptions of nationhood and exclusionist policies
towards ethnic minorities are said to be typical of Germany. Sweden, lastly, is associated
with inclusive policies ensuring a high degree of civic equality for immigrant groups
(Brubaker 1992; Kohn 1994; Koopmans 2010). In terms of socio-economic policies,
England exemplifies the typical liberal laissez faire model with minimal state
1 Not to be confused with the conflict perspective on tolerance.