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

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 chan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of public policy Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 209 - 227
Main Author Gelber, Katharine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2021
Subjects
Freedom of speech
Institutionalism
Institutionalization
Institutions
National security
Norms
Policy making
Politics
Prime ministers
Reforms
Research design
Sanctions
Social norms
Values
United Kingdom > UK
Australia
United States > US
institutions
new institutionalisms
freedom of speech
norms
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Summary: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.
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ISSN:0143-814X
1469-7815
DOI:10.1017/S0143814X19000187