Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech
About this book
Instead, we should conceive of free speech first and foremost as a means to achieve civic deliberation and true popular sovereignty. Building on James Madison, Sunstein proposes a "New Deal" for the first Amendment, a new interpretation that attacks undifferentiated absolutism and replaces it with a vision of responsible public life.
Sunstein examines broadcasting, campaign finance, hate speech, pornography, government art funding, commercial speech, and the privacy of rape victims.
He insists that political speech, essential for the functioning of any democracy, must not only be protected, but encouraged.
If the government, say were to use broadcasting markets to encourage attention to public issues and diverse points of view, the First Amendment would not stand in the way.
Nonpolitical speech, on the other hand, should be less fully protected when it conflicts with other interests and rights such as that of privacy.