I have an article titled "Viewpoint Diversity" Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine forthcoming in several months in the George Mason Law Review, and I wanted to serialize a draft of it here. There is still time to edit it, so I'd love to hear people's feedback. The material below omits the footnotes (except a few that I've moved into text, marked with {}s, as I normally do when I move text within quotes); if you want to see the footnotes—or read the whole draft at once—you can read this PDF. Earlier posts have largely criticized such viewpoint diversity requirements, by analogy to criticisms of the Fairness Doctrine. Here are two sections discussing possible permissible options related to viewpoint diversity and nondiscrimination, plus the Conclusion.
[IX.] The Permissible Scope of Viewpoint Diversity Mandates: Support for Specific Messages or Programs That the Government Is Promoting
So far, I have argued that viewpoint diversity mandates are inevitably viewpoint-based, and that therefore, the government can't attach them as conditions to general funding aimed at promoting accessibility of universities to students (e.g., student loans) or at funding universities' or faculty members' own research projects.
