The democratic legitimacy of laws restricting freedom of speech during war -- The Espionage Act and the Sedition Act : enactment, enforcement and judgment -- Congressional deliberation on the Espionage and Sedition Acts -- Antifascism, anticommunism, the demand to prohibit subversive expression, and legislation, enforcement and judgment on the Smith Act -- Congressional deliberation on the Smith Act -- The second red scare, anticommunist demands and the internal security act enactment, enforcement and adjudication -- Congressional deliberation on the McCarran Act.
Summary:
"Freedom of speech is a basic right in a democracy. During war however, national legislatures tend to enact laws that restrict this basic right. Under what circumstances can such laws be democratically legitimate? Avichai Levit argues that the degree of democratic legitimacy of laws that restrict freedom of speech during war, depends on the extent of legislature deliberation on such laws. The more law makers in both chambers of the legislature, seriously consider information and arguments, reason on the common good, and seek to persuade and decide the best legislative outcome, in committees and on the floor, the more democratic legitimacy can be associated with such laws. This book fills a gap in the scholarly literature regarding the evaluation of the democratic legitimacy of laws restricting freedom of speech during war, by bridging different theoretical perceptions and presenting an alternative normative account of deliberative democracy which focuses on the deliberations of a national legislature. Using the United States as a case study, this book goes into the details of Congressional deliberation during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, as well as the political histories that brought about such laws. Legislative Deliberative Democracy will be of interest to academics and students alike in the fields of American Constitutional law, Political theory, American politics and political history"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.