HREQ 4700 Democracy, State and Freedom of Expression (Summer 2020)

Research Essay Topics:

Rules and guidelines:

Research Essay topic for HREQ 4770

Due date. Aug. 02, 2020 must be uploaded to Turnitin as well as emailed to me.

Length: 6 to 8 pages excluding title and bibliography pages

The research paper must include case law, theoretical insights/framework from free speech theorists
and constitutional and justice considerations. Argument should be analytically sound.

The Moodle score for the paper cannot be greater than 20%

Standard research methodology and formatting approach is required

Minimum of 6 to 8 academic sources excluding newspapers, magazines, and government publications.

The following criteria among others will be the basis on which the research paper will be evaluated:

 A coherent introduction which clearly lays out the issues/puzzles and problematic of the
research paper including brief references to how your research sources have framed the issues
and problematic of your topic. The introduction should clearly state the thesis of the research
paper
 The argument in the body of the paper must be presented in a coherent and analytical manner.
The argument must have some originality and demonstrable research discovery and value
added, as opposed to vague and general argument.
 The argument in the body must demonstrated balanced and distributed use of the research
sources throughout the paper
 The conclusion must be robust and effectively sum-up the argument of the paper along with the
key findings from the research in a coherent manner

The research essay should have an introduction laying out the road map and methodological approach
of the essay along with a brief introduction of the academic literature and debate on your topic. The
introduction should give some clue as to your approximate position on the literature and debate. The
essay should have a developed thesis that the paper will argue. The research paper should be original
and interpretive and merely not summary of general arguments. The paper should have a theoretical/
methodological framework. The body of the essay must be analytical and empirical argument must be
bolstered by research findings in support of your thesis. The paper will end with a concluding
summarizing and reiterating your argument and findings. The quality of the academic sources will form a
part of the overall evaluation. There should be some verbatim intext quotations (3 or 4).
1. Anti-Slapp Law in Canada. What are the Issues? Should the government be Passing such a Law?
Is there a civil liberty threat from such law?

2. Did the Canadian parliament abandon our best constitutional tradition when it repealed s. 13 of
the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA)?

3. Why is freedom of speech so venerated in the United States when clearly its exercise has
threatened other constitutional liberties and has made American society more divisive?

4. Has the Canadian government surveillance law in the post-9/11 era a violation of free speech
rights or a justifiable intervention for safeguarding fundamental values of Canadian society.

5. Should corporation have the same free speech protection right as the press and citizens? The
case of Citizens United.

6. Is the Trump administration a threat to the Constitution? Or is the Trump administration

exposing the flaws inherent in the constitution? Focus your analysis on civil liberties.

7. The First Amendment is really about a lack of faith in the government to engineer a fair and just
society than it is a constitutional necessity for the existence of democratic government.
Research this statement in relations to the Founders’ intension.

8. The European conception of free speech reflects the European enlightened commitment that
the state and citizens can discursively contract for reasoned speech (speech with logos) to
triumph over hate speech that mask as free speech.

9. Why are courts inconsistent in free speech rulings in cases involving free speech in schools and
whistleblowing but more predictable in its ruling against the right of the state to regulate speech
in the same context?

10. With the rise of virulent hate groups in the United States and Europe is it time for the United
States and other western liberal democratic states to rethink the logic of freedom of speech and
expression in the interest of preserving and defending the principle of open and inclusive
democratic polity?

11. Why should Black Lives Matter and the Me Too Movement be allow to exercise their First
Amendment Rights, but the alt-right and white supremacy movements First Amendment Rights
should be constrained?