Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech

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Freedom of Speech

Introduction

The United States was founded upon a set of democratic principles . The foundation of our democracy has rested upon a principle of sovereignty which is a notion of rule by and for "the people " Because democracy is based upon the principle of a sovereign populace , there are many rights of the people that are set in place to ensure that citizens retain the power to control the actions of government officials . One of these rights is

our right to free speech . The principle of free speech is closely tied to our democratic foundations and it is quite difficult to separate the two . All of the prominent justifications of free speech contain arguments that have been constructed more or less based upon democratic principles

On one level , the interconnectedness of free speech theory and democracy speaks to the importance of free speech to a functioning democracy . On another level , however , the collapsing of free speech with democracy makes it incredibly difficult to effectively interrogate our principle of free speech , because to do so might also be seen as interrogating our democracy . Understanding our commitments to freedom of speech is important not only to further comprehend the importance of free speech in a democratic government , but also to uncover how we as a nation justify and privilege freedom of speech even to the point when it trumps other liberties . It is also vital to understand what is lacking within traditional justifications...