Understanding Citizenship and Human Rights: A Historical Perspective
Subjects vs. Citizens
Subjects: No rights and are limited only to obeying.
Citizens: Have rights under the law.
Origin of Citizenship
Citizenship originated in Athens (5th Century BC). It consisted of isonomia (equality before the law) and isegoria (freedom of speech).
- Anyone who did not participate in political affairs was considered an idiot.
- Today, idiocy prevails because we are concerned with the personal and individual.
- Citizenship excluded women, children, slaves, the elderly, and immigrants.
Citizenship in Rome
The Roman citizen differed from the Greek. The Greek citizen was an active subject required to participate in public life and concerned with the general good. In Rome, citizenship referred to reclaiming the rights the law recognizes.
We must have:
- Political participation through deliberation (Greece)
- Legal protection of the rights of the person (Rome)
Civil and Political Rights
Shown in the French Revolution (1789), and are contained in the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the Bill of Rights, they say:
- Right to property
- Right not to be detained without trial and without reason
- Freedom of expression
Inequality between men and women is due to education.
Similarities and Differences Between American and French Declarations
- Similarities: Presumption of innocence, freedom of opinion and religion, freedom of expression, property rights, separation of powers, supremacy of law, and the right of resistance against oppression.
- Differences: The French Revolution was against the feudal structure; the U.S. sought a consolidation of existing ones.
Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights
The beginnings of the Industrial Revolution led to the emergence of labor movements and labor struggles demanding rights to solve social, economic, and cultural issues. Rights gained include the right to education, health coverage, unemployment benefits, the right to strike, hygiene and safety regulations, and the prohibition of child labor.
Third Generation Rights
Current inequalities have given rise to new needs whose solution requires new rights based on solidarity and compromise. These include the right to peace, a healthy environment, international cooperation, and international justice.
Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights
Iusnaturalism
The foundation of human rights lies in human nature; human beings have rights simply because they exist.
- Thomists: Human nature depends on God, and therefore natural rights come from God. Human beings have rights because God wills it.
- a) The inclination to preserve existence derives the right to life (forbidding killing).
- b) The inclination to reproduce (care for and raise children).
- c) The tendency to know the truth and live in society (peaceful coexistence and authority to guarantee it).
- Enlightened Iusnaturalism: No longer sees God as the foundation of nature and human rights and gives freedom and reason.
John Locke
Invented a theory that justifies the existence of natural rights: before living in society, man lived alone in a state of nature. Dissensions arose among them. Individuals gave up being judges and parties to conflicts and established a non-aggression pact. The liberal state emerged. Therefore, the rulers have no more power than what the citizens give them. What makes them citizens is that they elect their leaders and decide their power.
Rousseau
Man is good by nature and enjoys nature in a state of peace, freedom, and equality. Life in its natural state is unsafe and dangerous, given the lack of resources and media. By becoming members of society, men earn more than they do in isolation. Society replaces instinct with justice and gives actions morality. The agreement or contract that gives way to society is a pact with each other, giving up freedom for the general will. The Democratic State emerges. The general will is the common good, the sovereign power, and the foundation of all political power. Women do not count in the general will.
Kant
Duties are based on human dignity, which is based on reason and human autonomy and implies that every human being is an end and not a means.
Iuspositivism
Opposes natural law because the only set of rules that has legal validity are those contained in written laws.
Utilitarianism
Starts from the rejection of the idea of human rights and natural law. Written laws are used for the greatest number of people.
Realism
Rights are the result of conquest and revolution of the slave against his master.