One of the most crucial speech theories, in my opinion, has to be the check on governmental power which brings about ten concepts of checks and balances in government. Checks and balances are commonly defined as a system developed to ensure that no one central government branch would become more powerful than any other branch. Not only does this system apply within the federal government, but it also applies to the citizens as well as an effort to stop the federal government from imposing on our rights as individuals.
These checks by individuals on government power are also referred to as the watchdog's role. I believe this role is essential to American society because, without these watchdogs, the federal government is left to trample our first amendment rights. As a society in the middle of a pandemic, it is not uncommon to witness these acts of government take place as they did with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate. No matter where you stand on vaccines for the Coronavirus and its several variants, it isn't hard to tell why citizens would be opposed to having unknown medical procedures done to them.
From my point of view, I have been vaccinated, but I have not been boosted for the recent variants. By no means am I an anti-vax individual, but for me, the vaccine was something I did to try to get back to how life was and return to normal. I don't usually get the flu shot because I hate needles, it's just a personal preference for me that at this point in the pandemic I do not feel as if I need more booster shots.
In the case where employers require their employees to receive the vaccine, I have in fact heard stories of people getting fired because they didn't get the vaccine. So it makes sense why the supreme court would strike down the Biden administration's plans to make the entire county receive the vaccine. These employers can put these requirements into place because of their private companies. Just like when I was younger, my private school required me to get a shot before attending school the first year.
All that being said, this watchdog role of citizens within the United States is vital to our society, if nobody questions vaccine mandates put into place by the executive branch, we would be casting away one of our fundamental freedoms. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that a majority of individuals believe the media should play the biggest role as the watchdog of the federal government and report their findings to the general public. I think for the most part we do see a lot of that role being filled by journalists questioning whether or not actions by the government are admirable. No matter what side of the political spectrum, both are typically questioning the process the government takes and sometimes that can be filled with different opinions or spins on stories. It is important as individuals to take those questions posed by these watchdogs from our own opinions and conduct our own research before getting deep into one way or another.
