Town square test

Town square test

Town square test is a threshold test for a free society proposed by a former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, now a notable politician in Israel.

The test is found in Sharansky's book, "The Case for Democracy", and it reads:
*"If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society. We cannot rest until every person living in a "fear society" has finally won their freedom."

The test became famous after George W. Bush endorsed the book [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2112699/ "My Sharansky" by Chris Suellentrop] ] and Condoleezza Rice quoted the test in her remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [ [http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2005/RiceTestimony050118.pdf Condoleezza Rice testimony] ]

References

*Natan Sharansky, Ron Dermer, "The Case for Democracy. The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror," (2004, ISBN 1-58648-261-0, hardcover) (2006, ISBN 0-89221-644-1 paperback).

External links

* [http://www.settingtheworldtorights.com/node/533 Town Square Test in Oxford, England]


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