When the state speaks, what should it say? : how democracies can protect expression and promote equality / Corey Brettschneider.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brettschneider, Corey.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Freedom of speech.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How should a liberal democracy respond to hate groups and others that oppose the ideal of free and equal citizenship? The democratic state faces the hard choice of either protecting the rights of hate groups and allowing their views to spread, or banning their views and violating citizens' rights to freedoms of expression, association, and religion. Avoiding the familiar yet problematic responses to these issues, political theorist Corey Brettschneider proposes a new approach called value democracy. The theory of value democracy argues that the state should protect the right to express illiberal beliefs, but the state should also engage in democratic persuasion when it speaks through its various expressive capacities: publicly criticizing, and giving reasons to reject, hate-based or other discriminatory viewpoints. Distinguishing between two kinds of state action--expressive and coercive--Brettschneider contends that public criticism of viewpoints advocating discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation should be pursued through the state's expressive capacities as speaker, educator, and spender. When the state uses its expressive capacities to promote the values of free and equal citizenship, it engages in democratic persuasion. By using democratic persuasion, the state can both respect rights and counter hateful or discriminatory viewpoints. Brettschneider extends this analysis from freedom of expression to the freedoms of religion and association, and he shows that value democracy can uphold the protection of these freedoms while promoting equality for all citizens.

Contents:

Introduction: Averting two dystopias, an introduction to value democracy

The principle of public relevance and democratic persuasion

Publicly justifiable privacy and reflective revision by citizens

When the state speaks, what should it say? democratic persuasion and the freedom of expression

Democratic persuasion and state subsidy

Religious freedom and the reasons for rights

Conclusion: value democracy at home and abroad.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613831781

9781283519335

128351933X

9781400842377

1400842379

OCLC:

794670882