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Acknowledgments M any people have contributed to this research project. Without the generous support of the Russell Sage Foundation and an initial grant from the Law and Society Program of the National Science Foundation this research would not have been possible. I feel especially indebted to Paul Wahlbeck, program officer at the time, and Frank Scioli, political science program director, for their enthusiastic support of this research. I would also like to acknowledge the initial support of Marietta Baba, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Michigan State University. This research project began as a collaborative effort with Brian Silver at Michigan State University. Brian’s seminal contribution to the project was invaluable. Throughout the book, I draw on several published and unpublished papers we wrote together and countless hours of conversations . Several people were very gracious with their time and patience in reading drafts of the manuscript. Jim Gibson, first and foremost, was an incredible friend and source of inspiration. He is owed a special thanks because his research on public opinion and political tolerance paved the way for this project. I am also indebted to Paul Sniderman for always being available and for his insight on earlier drafts. Bob Erikson, Jack Citrin , Paul Abramson, Melinda Hall, Christopher Parker, and Christian Davenport provided helpful comments on earlier drafts of the book. Colleagues such as Dave Rhode, Jerry Weinberger, Bill Allen, Mike Bratton, and Reggie Roberts were incredible resources and provided insightful reactions to many of my thoughts. There is nothing like having good friends and colleagues who can help you get rid of bad ideas quickly. Sarah Corp and Sasha Miller were invaluable research assistants throughout the project. Larry Hembroff and Karen Clark in the Office of Survey Research in the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University did a fine job with the data collection. xv ...

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