pluralism

/ˌplʊrəˈlɪzəm/

If you believe in pluralism, you believe that people of all races, classes, religions, and backgrounds should be able to get along on equal footing in society.

Can you hear the word plural, meaning "more than one," in pluralism? Someone who believes in pluralism believes that there are many different ways to live, and thinks that government and society should be structured in such a way as to encourage and appreciate people's differences. The extreme opposite of pluralism is totalitarianism, when one supreme dictator makes all the decisions and no one can contradict him. In the Catholic Church, pluralism is also the practice of holding more than one office at once.

Definitions of pluralism

1. noun

   a social organization in which diversity of racial or religious or ethnic or cultural groups is tolerated
   type of:

   social organisation, social organization, social structure, social system, structure

   the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships
2. noun

   the practice of one person holding more than one benefice at a time
   type of:

   pattern, practice

   a customary way of operation or behavior
3. noun

   the doctrine that reality consists of several basic substances or elements
   antonyms:

   monism

   the doctrine that reality consists of a single basic substance or element

   type of:

   doctrine, ism, philosophical system, philosophy, school of thought

   a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school