The Right's First Amendment : The Politics of Free Speech & the Return of Conservative Libertarianism

Wayne Batchis

ISBN 10: 0804796068 / ISBN 13: 9780804796064

Published by Stanford University Press Mär 2016, 2016

About this Item

Neuware - Not so long ago, being aggressively 'pro-free speech' was as closely associated with American political liberalism as being pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, or pro-gun control. With little notice, this political dynamic has been shaken to the core. The Right's First Amendment examines how conservatives came to adopt and co-opt constitutional free speech rights.

Seller Inventory # 9780804796064

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Right's First Amendment : The Politics of Free Speech & the Return of Conservative Libertarianism
• Publisher: Stanford University Press Mär 2016
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804796068
• ISBN 13: 9780804796064
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 157H x 20D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 20 millimeters depth
• Weight: 499 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Not so long ago, being aggressively "pro–free speech" was as closely associated with American political liberalism as being pro-choice, pro–affirmative action, or pro–gun control. With little notice, this political dynamic has been shaken to the core. The Right's First Amendment examines how conservatives came to adopt and co-opt constitutional free speech rights.

In the 1960s, free speech on college campuses was seen as a guarantee for social agitators, hippies, and peaceniks. Today, for many conservatives, it represents instead a crucial shield that protects traditionalists from a perceived scourge of political correctness and liberal oversensitivity. Over a similar period, free market conservatives have risen up to embrace a once unknown, but now cherished, liberty: freedom of commercial expression. What do these changes mean for the future of First Amendment interpretation?

Wayne Batchis offers a fresh entry point into these issues by grounding his study in both political and legal scholarship. Surveying six decades of writings from the preeminent conservative publication National Review alongside the evolving constitutional law and ideological predispositions of Supreme Court justices deciding these issues, Batchis asks the conservative political movement to answer to its judicial logic, revealing how this keystone of our civic American beliefs now carries a much more complex and nuanced political identity.

About the Author

Wayne Batchis is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Delaware.