by Larik Sonfar

Created on: May 22, 2008

Democratic society is dependent on a multitude of necessary conditions. Governments must be ruled by the people as well as for the people. Yet neither of the critical pillars of liberalism can be fulfilled without the integral rights inscribed in our First Amendment. These rights, including freedom of speech, assembly, religion, press, and petition, form a primary avenue by which the people can run the government in an informed, autonomous, and continuous way.

First, freedom of speech and freedom of the press allow for a free flow of information to the public. This information is necessary for the public to make informed policy decisions. Without them, the government could easily hide corruption and oppression. To make matters worse, states with a monopoly on the press essentially tell the people what to believe, and not the other way around. Granted, the rights of free speech and press aren't panaceas for governmental secrecy and subjugation. However, they have drastically mitigated the potential abuse America's strong centralized government could have dealt to the nation. Actual and potential wrongs such as Guantanamo Bay, Washington pork projects, and the CIA leak of Valerie Plame might all have gone unnoticed. Measures such as the Patriot Act might have been extended to justify a 1984 like police state. While such assertions sound farfetched, their happening in a nation without First Amendment rights are entirely plausible. We would be entirely in the dark.

Second, First Amendment rights stimulate and center public discourse on important issues. The actions of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and other notable civil rights crusaders helped to bring the issue of discrimination to the forefront of state and national politics. Earlier in history, important works such as Uncle Tom's Cabin that detailed the cruelties of slavery prompted fierce Northern and European opposition to slavery and its eventual abolition.

Third, first amendment rights, especially those of free speech, press, and assembly, function as an extension of a citizen's right to vote. While each person's vote is arguably negligible, his voice is not. Sentiments that cannot be expressed with the casting of an anonymous ballot can be expressed through public statements. In this way, arguments can be presented for and against certain positions and entire segments of the population can be moved to change their minds. Additionally, elections happen only once per election cycle, which can range

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