Is intellectual freedom on the decline in the United States?

A new study on self-censorship says "yes" - but the answer is more complicated that it suggests.

Persuasion — Yascha Mounk’s new media venture, which bills itself as “determined to defend free speech and free inquiry against all its enemies” — has published an analysis of historical surveys on self-censorship. The surveys ask respondents whether they feel free to speak their mind, and the authors — James Gibson and Joseph Sutherland — detect a sign…