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Contested Words: Legal Restrictions on Freedom of Speech in Liberal Democracies.

Article Excerpt
Contested Words: Legal Restrictions on Freedom of Speech in Liberal Democracies by Ian Cram (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2006) pages 1-233. Price US$99.95 (hardcover). ISBN 7546 2365 3.



CONTENTS I Introduction II A Civic Republican Basis for Speech Regulation III Hot Topics IV Conclusion

I INTRODUCTION

This book provides a comparative constitutional perspective on some current hot topics in speech regulation, including hate speech, commercial speech and electoral speech, and examines them from an analytical framework of political philosophy. Central elements of libertarianism, communitarianism and civic republicanism, insofar as they are relevant to the theme of speech regulation, are outlined early on; and form a set of central considerations which are revisited throughout the book as specific cases and examples are discussed. Thus, the decisions of courts in, for example, the regulation of electoral broadcasting, are considered within the framework of values upheld in electoral regulations and the broader purposes these values might serve from the perspective of philosophical considerations about why speech is important and deserving of protection. This makes the book interesting and contributes elements that often do not feature in other literature which contains a similarly close consideration of individual judgments.

II A CIVIC REPUBLICAN BASIS FOR SPEECH REGULATION

The overall argument Ian Cram makes is that society works best when decisions are made by informed and equally participatory citizens in a deliberative manner. This is an argument derived from civic republican literature, especially the work by Cass Sunstein. (1) Although not original, it is an interesting premise from which to consider the decisions that courts do, and should, make. This framework gives rise to the central...

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