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NathanielCriderFirstPaper 4 - 07 Mar 2015 - Main.NathanielCrider
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The Revolutionary James Madison | | | Third, the free expression rights are indispensable to political participation and decision-making. The just power of government derives from the consent of the governed. As the holders of sovereign power, citizens have the right to form their own beliefs and communicate to the government and the governed through the political process. And because the political process is the means by the people govern themselves, freedom of political expression is thus critical to securing freedom elsewhere. | |
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< | Finally, the guarantee of freedom of expression balances society between stability and change. Suppression produces a superficial conformity and results in the ossification of ideas. By contrast, the full discussion and encouragement of dissent provides catharsis for the aggrieved and an opportunity for the state to address or maintain the complained of social conditions. Though stoking the embers of dissent may threaten the state, history teaches us that suppression more often harms the general welfare than it protects. | >
> | Finally, the guarantee of freedom of expression balances society between stability and change. Suppression produces a superficial conformity and results in the ossification of ideas. By contrast, the full discussion and encouragement of dissent provides catharsis for the aggrieved and an opportunity for the state to address or maintain the social conditions necessary for democratic self-government. Though stoking the embers of dissent may threaten the state, history teaches us that suppression more often harms the general welfare than it protects. | | | Madison and the Guarantee of Anti-Totalitarianism | | | Protects Political Participation and Decision-Making | |
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< | At the heart of the Madisonian plan is protecting open discussion for the participation of citizens in decision-making. In a series of essays condemning Alexander Hamilton and his monetary and fiscal policies published in 1791 and 1792 , Madison was unequivocal: “Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free state." Despite the careful design his constitutional scheme, public opinion is the ultimate check. | >
> | At the heart of the Madisonian plan is protecting open discussion for the participation of citizens in decision-making. In a series of essays condemning Alexander Hamilton and his monetary and fiscal policies published in 1791 and 1792 , Madison was unequivocal: “Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free state." Despite the careful design of his constitutional scheme, public opinion is the ultimate check on abuse of power. | | | Balances Stability and Change | |
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< | There is not a single principle Madison championed more than the idea that free and open discussion is necessary for a stable yet adaptable society. After years of living in fear of the guillotine and the resulting bitterness and suspicion of the election of 1796, the Congress enacted the Sedition Act in 1798. Protesting the Act, Madison argued that censorship “ought, ‘more than any [unconstitutional act] produce universal alarm; because it is levelled against…free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right.’” Because it denigrates the right of suffrage – “the essence of a free and responsible government" -- suppression of the right to free expression hence threatens the stability of democratic government. | >
> | There is not a single principle Madison championed more than the idea that free and open discussion is necessary for a stable yet adaptable society. After years of living in fear of the guillotine and the bitterness and suspicion resulting from the election of 1796, the Federalist-controlled Congress enacted the Sedition Act in 1798. Protesting the Act, Madison argued that censorship “ought, ‘more than any [unconstitutional act] produce universal alarm; because it is levelled against…free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right.’” Because it denigrates the right of suffrage – “the essence of a free and responsible government" -- suppression of the right to free expression hence threatens the stability of democratic government. | | | Conclusion |
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