ABSTRACT
William Galston writes: “The ability of parents to raise their children in a manner consistent with their deepest commitments is an essential element of expressive liberty” (Galston 2002, 102). Galston believes that “One of the most disturbing features of illiberal regimes is the wedge their governments typically seek to drive between parents and children, and the effort they make to replace a multiplicity of family traditions with a unitary, state-administered culture” (Galston 2002, 103). Whereas Galston places some limits on parental authority, such as not allowing them to teach their children to be servile, he believes that these days the larger danger comes from the state and the media (Galston 2002, 106-8). Thus for Galston, protecting parental authority and reducing the size of that wedge fosters democracy and inhibits tyranny.
