Freedom for All? Populism and the Instrumental Support of Freedom of Speech

• In Event: Democracy and Populism

Abstract

Popular support for freedom of speech is generally high. At the same time, citizens are often willing to censor speech acts they do not agree with. We investigate this paradox, conceptually and empirically, by examining the relationship between populism and freedom of speech. Using an experiment in a representative survey fielded in Belgium, we find that populist individuals display higher support for free speech in its principled and abstract form, yet they are willing to restrict the rights of their ideological opponents. Left-wing populist individuals are more likely to allow a speech against multinational corporations, yet they tend to deny the same right for a speech against immigrants. On the contrary, right-wing populist individuals are more likely to tolerate a speech against immigrants but less likely to do so for a speech against multinational corporations. These results underline the tendency of populist individuals on both sides of the ideological spectrum to instrumentally trade off free speech for their ideological interests.

Author

• Alberto Stefanelli, Yale University