This provocative book challenges conventional understandings of political speech and its relationship to democracy. Through a focused case study of Donald Trump's role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and the prosecutions stemming from it, Erik Olsen develops a critique of the prevailing view that political speech is a private right that is only instrumentally related to political action. He advocates instead for a theoretical framework that treats political speech as a form of communicative action and balances the protection of free expression with the need to safeguard core democratic practices and processes. He thus outlines a more robust First Amendment jurisprudence that can better defend both public liberty and democratic institutions from authoritarian threats in the current era of democratic backsliding. "In this timely, provocative, and compelling book, Erik Olsen argues that Americans have been thinking about free speech all wrong--and are risking our democratic institutions as a result. We should adopt a new way of thinking about free speech that better honors the nation's democratic values. All Americans should encounter the ideas that are in A New Approach to Political Speech !" Susan McWilliams Barndt, Podlich Distinguished Fellow in Government at Claremont McKenna College and Professor of Politics at Pomona College "This is a major contribution to the understanding of free speech and democracy, at a time when anti-democratic speech is being used to usher in anti-democratic action. Brilliantly and meticulously argued, the book deserves to have a real impact in policy debates in the coming years." David Ost, Professor of Politics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, author of Red Pill Politics: Demystifying Today's Far Right "Byrethinking the classical liberal paradigm and advancing a democratic republican framework centered on 'public liberty, ' Olsen challenges us to confront the dangers of speech that corrodes the very democratic practices it claims to defend. The result is a work that is theoretically rigorous and historically grounded." Neil S. Chaturvedi, Director of the Weglyn Endowed Chair for Multicultural Studies and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona "In this timely, provocative, and compelling book, Erik Olsen argues that Americans have been thinking about free speech all wrong—and are risking our democratic institutions as a result. We should adopt a new way of thinking about free speech that better honors the nation's democratic values. All Americans should encounter the ideas that are in A New Approach to Political Speech !" Susan McWilliams Barndt, Podlich Distinguished Fellow in Government at Claremont McKenna College and Professor of Politics at Pomona College "This is a major contribution to the understanding of free speech and democracy, at a time when anti-democratic speech is being used to usher in anti-democratic action. Brilliantly and meticulously argued, the book deserves to have a real impact in policy debates in the coming years." David Ost, Professor of Politics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, author of Red Pill Politics: Demystifying Today's Far Right "Byrethinking the classical liberal paradigm and advancing a democratic republican framework centered on 'public liberty,' Olsen challenges us to confront the dangers of speech that corrodes the very democratic practices it claims to defend. The result is a work that is theoretically rigorous and historically grounded." Neil S. Chaturvedi, Director of the Weglyn Endowed Chair for Multicultural Studies and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Erik J. Olsen is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Seattle University. His research interests include democratic theory, constitutional law, constitutional theory, the republican tradition, liberalism, and legal and political theories of property. He is the author of Civic Republicanism and the Properties of Democracy: A Case Study of Post-Socialist Political Theory . Professor Olsen is also a composer and performing jazz musician who has composed music for three original musicals.