Leniency Contract

The leniency contract is an influential model of minority influence. It is designed to identify factors that affect the likelihood that a minority group will be able to persuade the majority to adopt its point of view. The essence of the contract is that majority members agree to hear a minority view they might otherwise dismiss out of handthus, the term leniency on the implicit condition that the viewpoint is provided by a [Page 528]member of the ingroup, and with the proviso that the majority will not be expected to change. In some cases, despite this understanding, the minority does influence the majority. This entry describes the theoretical background that gives rise to the leniency contract, and then considers elements of the contract in detail ...