Norms, institutions and freedom of speech in the US, the UK and Australia

Bibliographic Data

ID6296313
AuthorsKatharine Gelber (0000-0002-0239-3552, The University of Queensland, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume41
Issue2
Pages209-227
Publication date2021-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0143-814X • E-ISSN: 1469-7815
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0143814x19000187
OpenAlexW2954190652
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

While it has become accepted that norms can act in institution-like ways, a highly valued norm that has not been examined is free speech. Can free speech be conceptualised as acting in institution-like ways? If it can, what does this illuminate about processes of policy change? I analyse policy change between 2001 and 2011 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, a period during which significant new limits were introduced on free speech in relation to national security. In addition to showing how free speech acted in institution-like ways, the analysis suggests three implications: norms can both act in institution-like ways and be subject to change in interaction with other institutions; a broad, cultural level institution can mask policy change at the narrow, rule-based level even where the latter contradicts the former; and complexity and variation in speech regulation can be understood as consequences of the to-be-expected variability in the institutionalisation of a norm

Institution · Institutionalisation · Law and economics · Norm (philosophy · Political science · Sociology · Variation (astronomy · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Ombudsman and Human Rights

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