Freedom of Expression - The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal Thought

 

Freedom of Expression 

The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal  Thought 

Ioanna Tourkochoriti 

National University of Ireland, Galway 

Two legal systems founded from similar Enlightenment philosophical and political values use state coercion differently to regulate a core liberty: the freedom of expression. This comparative study of France and the United States proposes a novel theory of how the limits of freedom of expression are informed by different revolutionary experiences and constitutional and political arrangements. Ioanna Tourkochoriti argues that the different ways freedom of expression is balanced against other values in France and the United States can be understood in reference to the role of the government and the understanding of republicanism and liberty. This understanding affects how jurists define the content and the limits of a liberty and strike a balance between liberties in conflict. Exploring both the legal traditions of the two countries, this study sheds new light on the broader historical, social and philosophical contexts in which jurists operate. 

1. Introduction: speech, privacy and dignity in France and the United States; 2. Antiquity, modernity, and historical imaginaries on the role of the government; 3. The underlying ex ante understanding of liberty; 4. The moralizing rational republic versus the state arbitrator of the free play of interests; 5. Foundation of the rights of man on the rights of the citizen versus foundation of the rights of the citizen on the rights of man; 6. Conclusion.