RIGHTS.

 RIGHTS

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What is current understanding of rights in Political Science ?

Rights Are Rightly Called Social Claims That Help Individuals Achieve Their Best Selves And Help Develop Their Personality. States Never Grant Rights, They Only Recognize Them; Governments Never Give Authority, They Only Protect Them.

For Example, Plato Believed That Only The State Can Deliver Justice And That The Job Of The Individual Is To Perform His Duties According To His Abilities And Capabilities. We Call These Philosophers Idealists. There Are Others, For Example John Locke, Who Hold That The State Exists As A Means To An End, And That The Ends Are 14 Persons, Implying That Individual Rights Are Sacrosanct And Nonviolent.

Rights Are Not Privileges Because They Are Not Rights. There Is A Difference Between Rights And Privileges; Rights Are Our Claims On Others As Others Have Claims On Us; On The Other Hand Rights Are Privileges Given To Some And Deprived To Others. Rights Are Universal In The Sense That They Are Guaranteed To All; Privileges Are Not Universal As They Are With Some People. Rights Are Given To All Without Any Discrimination; Some Are Given Privileges, Some Are Chosen. Rights Are Acquired As Rights; Privilege As A Matter Of Protection. Rights Arise In Democratic Societies; Privileges Are The Characteristics Of An Undemocratic System. Holland Defines Rights As "An Individual's Ability To Influence The Actions Of Others, Not By His Own Strength But By The Power Of Society. " According To Lasky, “Rights Are Those Conditions Of Social Life Without Which No One Can Ordinarily Seek To Achieve The Best Of Himself. ”

The Right Social Claim Aspect Is One Which Means That Rights Originate In Society And, Therefore, There Are No Rights Over Society, Over Society And Against Society. The 'development Of Personality' Aspect Which Means That The Rights Belong To The Individual And They Are An Important Component That Helps In Promoting One's Personality - This Aspect Includes The Right Of The Individual To Oppose The Government If The Subsequent Action Of The Individual Contrary To Personality.

• Principles Of Rights:
• Principle Of Natural Rights
• Doctrine Of Legal Rights
• Historical Theory Of Rights
• Social Welfare Theory Of Rights
• Marxist Theory Of Rights

The Theory Of Natural Rights Has Been Mainly Advocated By Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan, 1651), John Locke (Two Treatises On Government, 1690) And Jj Rousseau (Social Contract, 1762). These Contractualists, After Providing Social Contract Theory, Held The View That Men Had Natural Rights In The State Of Nature. Criticism: In A State Of Nature Where There Was No State, How Can One Conceive Of Rights In The Absence Of A State:

Criticism Of Bentham

Rights Are Natural, And Not That There Are Natural Rights

The Legal Theory Of Rights Among The Advocates Of Such Principles, The Names Of Bentham, Hegel And Austin Can Be Mentioned. According To Him, Rights Are Conferred By The State, Rights Are Treated As A Claim That The Power Of The State Bestows Upon The People. The Essential Features Of These Principles Are: (I) State 18 Defines And Prescribes The Bill Of Rights: Rights Neither Precede Or Precede The State As It Is The State Which Is The Source Of Rights.

Criticism: If We Accept That Rights Are The Creation Of The State, Then We Have To Accept The Idea That If The State Can Give Us Rights, It Can Take Them Away. Obviously, Such An Opinion Would Make The State Complete. In That Case, We Will Have Only Those Rights That The State Wants To Give Us.

The Historical Theory Of Rights , Also Called The Directive Theory, Treats The State As The Product Of A Long Historical Process. It Holds The View That Rights Develop From Traditions And Customs. Criticism The Historical Theory Of Rights Suffers From Its Limitations. 

It Cannot Be Accepted That All Our Customs Result In Rights: The Practice Of Sati Does Not Make It A Right And Neither Does Infanticide. Not All Of Our Rights Have Their Origin In Customs. The Right To Social Security, For Example, Is Not Related To A Custom.

The Social Welfare Theory Of Rights Assumes That Rights Are Conditions Of Social Welfare. The Theory Argues That The State Should Recognize Only Such Rights That Help Promote Social Welfare.

Criticism: It Is Based On The Factor Of Social Welfare, A Term That Is Too Vague To Be Precise. The Benthamite Formula 'greatest Good Of Greatest Number' Varies From Person To Person.

Marxist Theory Of Rights Is Understood In The Context Of The Economic System At A Particular Period Of History. A Particular Socioeconomic Formation Will Have A Particular System Of Rights. According To Marx, The Class Which Controls The Economic Structure Of The Society Also Controls The Political Power And It Uses This Power To Protect And Promote Its Own Interests Rather Than The Interests Of All. V Marxists Say That The Socialist State, As An Instrument Of Social And Political And Economic Change, Seeks To Establish Socialism, Which Would Be Based On The Principle Of 'From Each According To His Work According To His Capacity'.

They Are Essential As They Help Us To Utilize And Develop Our Faculties, Talents And Intelligence. Of The 30 Articles Of The Declaration Of Human Rights, Articles 3 To 15 List Traditional Rights. These Rights Include: Right To Life, Liberty, Right To Protection, Freedom From Arbitrary Arrest, Right To Fair Trial, Equal Protection Of Law, Freedom Of Movement, Nationality, To Seek Asylum Etc.