Since World War II, U.S. citizens have reported overwhelming agreement that freedom of expression is a basic right. But, like the law on free expression, public opinion shows that citizen rights to free expression are not absolute or unidimensional, but conditional. To better understand the extent of citizen rights to free expression according to the U.S. public, this study examines data from an online national survey (N = 2,600) in which twenty-five types of expression were offered for respondent agreement that “U.S. citizens should have a right to….” According to the respondents, the free expression types to which citizens have the most rights were expressing political opinions, making a political speech, picketing as a union member, and wearing a black armband in protest. The least endorsed rights were lying in the news, lying generally, protesting outside a church funeral service for a veteran, using racist language in a speech, and burning the American flag. Demographic analyses showed agreement with rights to free expression was highest among younger respondents, non-whites and males. Further analysis confirmed that freedom of expression is not unidimensional, with four main dimensions underlying perceptions of the twenty-five types. These dimensions were identified as repugnant expression, historical political expression, un-patriotic expression, and avoiding compelled expression.

自第二次世界大战以来，美国公民报告了压倒性的共识，即言论自由是一项基本权利。但是，就像关于言论自由的法律一样，舆论表明，公民的言论自由权不是绝对的或一维的，而是有条件的。为了更好地了解美国公众对公民自由表达权的了解程度，本研究调查了一项在线全国调查（N = 2,600）中的数据，在该调查中，有25种表达形式用于答辩人同意“美国公民应拥有……的权利。” 受访者认为，公民享有最多权利的自由表达方式包括表达政治见解，发表政治演讲，为工会成员举行纠察活动以及戴着黑色袖章以示抗议。最少被认可的权利是新闻，通常是新闻，在教堂fun仪馆外为退伍军人抗议，在演讲中使用种族主义语言，并燃烧美国国旗。人口统计分析显示，在年轻受访者，非白人和男性中，表达自由权的认同度最高。进一步的分析证实，表达自由不是一维的，其中四个主要方面是对二十五个类型的看法的基础。这些维度被确定为令人讨厌的表达，历史政治表达，非爱国表达和避免强迫表达。进一步的分析证实，表达自由不是一维的，其中四个主要方面是对二十五个类型的看法的基础。这些维度被确定为令人讨厌的表达，历史政治表达，非爱国表达和避免强迫表达。进一步的分析证实，表达自由不是一维的，其中四个主要方面是对二十五个类型的看法的基础。这些维度被确定为令人讨厌的表达，历史政治表达，非爱国表达和避免强迫表达。