Dimensions of Censorship: Reconceptualizing Public Willingness to Censor

First Amendment scholars and advocates have often criticized the American public's inconsistent dedication to free expression. Many studies have attempted to identify variables that predict pro-censorship attitudes, but such relationships remain largely enigmatic. The confusion is due, in part, to the myriad ways in which censorship attitudes have been conceptually and operationally defined. Informed by First Amendment theory and case law, a conceptual and operational approach to measuring these attitudes is proposed and tested. The results show it is important to conceptualize censorship attitudes as multifaceted.