Money Talks : Speech, Economic Power, and the Values of Democracy

Redish, Martin H.

ISBN 10: 0814775381 / ISBN 13: 9780814775387

Published by New York University Press, 2001

About this Item

Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 4749445-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Money Talks : Speech, Economic Power, and the Values of Democracy
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814775381
• ISBN 13: 9780814775387
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 1.252 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Many have argued that soft money and special interests are destroying the American electoral system. And yet the clarion call for campaign finance reform only touches on the more general belief that money and economic power have a disastrous impact on both free expression and American democracy. The nation's primary sources of communication, the argument goes, are increasingly controlled by vast corporate empires whose primary, or even exclusive motive is the maximization of profit. And these conglomerates should simply not be granted the same constitutional protection as, say, an individual protester.
And yet neither the expenditure of money for expressive purposes nor an underlying motive of profit maximization detracts from the values fostered by such activity, claims Martin H. Redish. In fact, given the modern economic realities that dictate that effective expression virtually requires the expenditure of capital, any restriction of such capital for expressive purposes will necessarily reduce the sum total of available expression. Further, Redish here illustrates, the underlying motive of those who wish to restrict corporate expression is disagreement with the nature of the views they express.
Confronting head-on one of the sacred cows of American reformist politics, Martin H. Redish here once again lives up to his reputation as one of America's most original and counterintuitive legal minds.

About the Author

The author of numerous books and for a quarter century one of the country's most provocative commentators on free speech issues, Martin H. Redish is the Louis and Harriet Professor of Law and Public Policy at Northwestern University School of Law.