2. RIGHTS IN A DEMOCRACY
What are rights?
Why do we need rights in a
democracy
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3. WHAT ARE RIGHTS
Rights are reasonable claims of persons recognised by society.
Now this is a pretty complicated definition: so lets start by making a simpler
one and adding pieces to it.
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4. RIGHTS ARE CLAIMS
OF A PERSON OVER
OTHER FELLOW
BEINGS, OVER THE
SOCIETY, AND OVER
THE GOVERNMENT.
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5. We all want to live happily:
without fear of being subjected to
degraded treatment. So rights
work somewhat like assurances
of security, dignity, and fair play.
For example, one of the aspects
of the right to freedom, is that all
citizens have the freedom to
travel to any part of the country.
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6. As we noted that the actions of
others should not disturb us, it
is equally important that our
actions don't harm anyone
else. So a right only becomes
possible when a claim is made
by a person which can be made
by others too.
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7. Now these claims need to be reasonable. Claiming that a person can
go over to any other person and spank them as much as they want is
ridiculous.
However, Just because we claim something, it does not become our
right:. It needs to be approved by the society. Only after being
recognised by the society, do rights acquire meaning. Every society
makes rules to regulate our conduct, and tell us what is right and what
is wrong. So we could say that :
“Rights are reasonable claims of a person over other
fellow beings, over the society, and over the
government which are recognized by the society and
can be made available in equal measure to any other
person”
8. That is why the notion of rights changes from time to time and from
society to society. For example, about three hundred years ago,
womens rights to vote was an alien concept. Now it is accepted as a
basic value. And, while it may be a crime to try to escape from prisons,
it is considered legal in some countries.
When these socially recognised claims are written into law, they aquire
real force. They become enforceable and we can demand their
application. Otherwise they are only moral rights. So we finally arrive to
the definition we started at:
“Rights are reasonable claims
of persons recognised by
society and sanctioned by
law.”
10. Rights are given for the citizens so
that it can be used as a tool to
maintain rule of law. Also rights are
important for the development of
individuals.
Why we need rights? The answer to
this question would be :-
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11. 1. Rights help to create
necessary changes that
will make our government
run in a better way.
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12. 2. Rights are very
important part for the very
sustenance of a
democracy. Without rights,
democracy in a country
becomes ineffective and
meaningless.
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14. 4. For democracy to exist,
rights are very necessary.
Each countryman has the
right to participate in the
democratic process.
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15. 5. Rights help to
maintain law and
order when some
citizens try to take
away the rights of
others.
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16. 6. Rights enable us to
speak for ourselves and
what we desire from our
government. Also, rights
help us in to choose a
better leader to run the
government.
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17. 7. People can live
dignified life if
there are rights in
the democracy.
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18. 8. In lieu of democratic elections, citizens
should have the right to express their
thoughts, enable to form political parties and
can take part in political activities . At last, it is
expected from the government to protect
citizen’s rights. But most of the times we see
that elected government may not protect or
may even attack the rights of their own
citizens. So, it is necessary that some rights
need to be placed higher than the government
so that it cannot violate them.
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