The Value of Self Participation in Government and The Freedom to Expression

There are eight values of free expression that scholars commonly discuss. Individual self-fulfillment is the value of expression that resonates with me the most. As a young girl I found myself constantly writing. I loved to write. I always wanted to express my thoughts to people. Some countries prevent women from learning to read and write making it hard for them to contribute to society. Other countries cut women out of politics and government matters altogether. I am grateful I am in a country that protects everyone’s right to freedom of speech and expression. With this right and I can fairly express my personal thoughts and opinions on how I feel about anything. It allows me to do what I love. 

There are several important values regarding freedom of expression. One that I find valuable is participation in self-government. The United States of America values the right to participate in government. It was James Madison one of the founding fathers who stated that he did not factions, he wanted every person to have their own unique ideas and for each of those ideas to be heard and represented within the government. I think it is extremely important that everyone’s voices are heard and represented through the idea of participation self-government. 

Another, concept I think is extremely important within the value of freedom of expression is the idea of a check on the government. This correlates with the concept of participation in self-government. It is the idea that any citizen can criticize the government. It is also the idea that any citizen should criticize the government. Putting a check on the government allows citizens to take back the power and keeps the government from holding all the power. 

One more concept I find important in terms of the value of freedom of expression is the protection of dissent. Disagreement is never a bad thing. Having opposing ideas is good for a government it keeps a balance so no one party takes too much control. Having a dissenting argument works hand in hand with the idea of participation in self-government and keeping a check on the government. 

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The values of expression that I see in affect almost every day is the participation in self-government. This is both a good and bad thing. It follows the concept that James Madison wanted where he did not want factions, but instead people speaking individual and free ideas. However, it has resulted in the split of the country. We are now faced with two parties who will not agree on anything. This is not what James Madison, or any founding father intended. They wanted a mix bag of ideas not two split parties that never agree on anything. Self-government is expressing your ideas and taking in other people’s ideas. The more you can obtain new ideas the better you can understand other viewpoints. The more ideas you learn from the more compromises will be made. More education and learning results in compromises and a better government this can be reached through self-government participation.