Constitution to Conscience: Institutional and Perceived Freedom of Expression Measured

This paper proposes a dual-dimensional framework for measuring freedom of speech across countries by distinguishing Institutional Freedom of Speech (IFoS) from Perceived Freedom of Speech (PFoS). The framework integrates four established international datasets: the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Freedom in the World by Freedom House (FH), the Freedom of Expression indicators by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute, and the Global Expression Report by Article 19 (A19). While IFoS captures formal legal and institutional conditions for expression, PFoS approximates the lived experience of expressive freedom using cross-national survey data on institutional trust, political efficacy, and self-censorship. The difference between the two dimensions, termed the Speech Gap, provides a diagnostic indicator of the divergence between legal guarantees and perceived social reality. Results reveal systematic variation across regime types, with notable cases such as Bulgaria (Gap = 28) and Romania (Gap = 25) exhibiting the largest divergences among European democracies, followed by Serbia and the United States. The Bulgarian case is examined in particular depth, drawing on recent data from Article 19, the Amnesty International, the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom, the Reuters Institute, and the Association of European Journalists. The paper situates these findings within theoretical frameworks of self-censorship, institutional trust, and the spiral of silence.