Adversary First Amendment

Martin H. Redish is the Louis and Harriet Ancel Professor of Law and Public Policy at Northwestern University School of Law. He is the author of Wholesale Justice (Stanford, 2008) and The Logic of Persecution (Stanford, 2004).

"Redish presents an interesting new approach to explaining the importance of freedom of expression in American political discourse . . . On the whole, the author should be commended for an excellent book that is well researched and very timely; freedom of expression is seemingly always being challenged by world events, so a passionate defense is always welcome . . . Recommended."—B. W. Monroe, CHOICE "The goals of this book are then to defend the descriptive and normative pedigree of this democratic theory; to explain the purported inexorable logical and conceptual linkages between this theory of democracy and the philosophical foundations of a right of free expression; and to reconnoiter the implications of those linkages for pertinent case-law issues . . . [T]he intellectual dynamism of Redish's defense of those goals makes this book worthy of attention and of political science-oriented assessments of its strengths and weaknesses."—Ira L. Strauber, The Law and Politics Book Review "Martin Redish sets forth and forcefully defends a powerful and important theory of the First Amendment, persuasively illustrating its application in three significant areas: commercial speech, campaign spending, and anonymous speech. This is a must-read for anyone interested in First Amendment theory."—Eugene Volokh, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law "Redish's The Adversary First Amendment is a passionate defense of a strong and broad right of freedom of expression. Although Redish justifies freedom of expression by its contribution to democratic self-rule, he argues that adversary democracy requires protection of free expression in all domains in which individuals discover their interests and values and that it cannot be restricted to political arenas or to 'public discourse.' Although Redish's theory of free expression puts him at odds with some leading First Amendment theorists, his arguments are formidable. The Adversary First Amendment is destined to be part of the First Amendment canon."—Larry Alexander, University of San Diego School of Law

• 1. Introduction: The First Amendment and American Democracy2. Adversary Democracy and American Political Theory3. Cooperative Democracy and Public Discourse: The Flawed Free Speech Theories of Robert Post and Alexander Meiklejohn4. Commercial Speech and the Twilight Zone of Viewpoint Discrimination5. The Anticorruption Principle, Free Expression, and the Democratic Process6. Adversary Democracy, Political Fraud, and the Dilemma of Anonymity7. Conclusion: The Optimistic Skepticism of the Adversary First Amendment