What are the Limits of Political Speech? A Conversation with Erik J. Olsen
About this episode
Erik J. Olsen discusses the limits of political speech and its implications for democracy in the context of recent events.
A New Approach to Political Speech: Democratic Theory, Constitutional Law, and Public Liberty After January 6 (de Gruyter, 2026) challenges conventional understandings of political speech and its relationship to democracy. Through a focused case study of Donald Trump's role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and the prosecutions stemming from it, Erik Olsen develops a critique of the prevailing view that political speech is a private right that is only instrumentally related to political action. He advocates instead for a theoretical framework that treats political speech as a form of communicative action and balances the protection of free expression with the need to safeguard core democratic practices and processes. He thus outlines a more robust First Amendment jurisprudence that can better defend both public liberty and democratic institutions from authoritarian threats in the current era of democratic backsliding. Erik J. Olsen is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Seattle University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a…
People in this episode
Host: Caleb Zakarin
Guest: Erik J. Olsen
Topics covered
- political speech
- democracy
- First Amendment
- authoritarianism
- democratic backsliding
Keywords
- political speech
- democratic theory
- constitutional law
- public liberty
- First Amendment
- democratic institutions
- authoritarian threats
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New Books Network
Books & works: A New Approach to Political Speech: Democratic Theory, Constitutional Law, and Public Liberty After January 6
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