Political Liberty in the U. S.

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Political Liberty in the U. S.

Undeniably, the rights and liberties of citizens are universally available, protected, and used. Foremost, the citizens’ rights are essentially human rights, which comprise the basic privileges and freedoms that are entitled to every person regardless of who they are. Such rights may involve the right to liberty, the right to privacy, and the right to life (Greenberg and Page 45). Usually, the respective privileges stand in for the entitlements of the citizen or faction in relation to the government. Additionally, they may also comprise the person and the proper authorities. The rights of the citizen are naturally ascribed. Simply, they cannot be earned or denied on dimensions such as religion, race, gender, or ethnicity. Moreover, such rights are deemed as legal privileges and are therefore secured under the rule of law. On the other hand, it is possible to assert that the difference that exists between rights and liberties. Even though both aspects may converge, liberties are particularly different from rights. Fundamentally, they involve the freedoms that are provided to the citizens through statutory or common law regulation. These include the freedom of speech, freedom to avoid arbitrary arrest, freedom of association, freedom of arrest, and the freedom of religion.

The right to vote is essential among all people and across all countries. If voting is not compulsory, then it should be voluntary (Stephenson 56). However, the respective privilege cannot be denied from the citizens. In democracies, a government is selected via the process of voting. This way, citizens gain the power to elect the leaders and representatives that are fit for their offices within the government. Nonetheless, even though they construct the foundation for a democratic community, they are usually denied in other states, which do not have a democracy institution. By choosing among a number of candidates for rulership, the voting process allows the citizens to select the appropriate personnel that will be responsible for running the affairs of the state (Stephenson 60). Regardless of consent or dissent with the ousting leadership, voting cannot be restricted among the people. Individuals may have conflicting opinions in terms of the persons they prefer to be successors. However, this does not mean that the government can act within its own interests and restrict such a process.

Globally, citizens are allowed to speak openly and form groups freely in order to petition the government. As asserted previously, the freedom of association is a natural right as well as civil liberties for all civilians. Hence, civilians are expected to act in their civil mandates to judge the government especially if it has not adhered to gratifying the needs and demands of the people. Additionally, the civilians are the ones responsible for choosing the type of leaders and government they want. In fact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is cognizant of the innate role that visible and transparent elections assume in endorsing the essential right towards participatory government (Greenberg and Page 23). Hence, every individual has the integral privilege to participate in his or her country’s government via freely selected representatives. As such, citizens can hold the government accountable by being vocal about the dissents as well as petitioning the government. Despite this, liberties are universal and evry human is entitled to them. Restricting such rights only interferes with the different forms of protection put in place in order to protect individuals from facing discrimination and unequal treatment via the non-observance of the human rights and civil liberties.

Works Cited

Greenberg, Edward S, and Benjamin I. Page. America’s Democratic Republic. New York: Pearson Longman, 2011. Print.

Stephenson, D. Grier. The Right to Vote: Rights and Liberties under the Law. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2014. Print.