Abstract
It is widely believed that there is more freedom of speech in America
today than there was at the time of the founding. Indeed, this view is
shared by liberal commentators, as one would expect, as well as by
leading conservatives, which is more surprising. “The body of law
presently defining First Amendment liberties,” writes liberal law
professor Archibald Cox, grew out of a “continual expansion of
individual freedom of expression.” Conservative constitutional
scholar Walter Berns agrees: “Legally we enjoy a greater liberty
[of speech] than ever before in our history.” This
shared assessment is correct—from the point of view of the
political theory of today's liberalism—but it is incorrect
from the point of view of the political theory of the American
founding.