Related Ideas

Libertarians regard individual rights as the most important element of a moral system.

They recognize, however, that popular recognition of the importance of rights brings with it certain problems. Lomasky comments on the recent proliferation of rights. He points out that the thoughtless proliferation of rights threatens the stability of the whole system of rights, and that we need foundations for rights, not platitudes. Without foundations, we run the risk that talk about rights will become mere rhetoric.

Rights are a kind of end run around the legislative and electoral processes that define democracy. They also trump utilitarian concerns and eliminate the need to discuss the merits of proposed policy. For these reasons, they are tempting politically, especially for minorities advocating unpopular measures. At the same time, however, they can be divisive. They eliminate the horse trading and compromise involved in legislative politics. Their use can sometimes undermine the stability that compromise can bring. These are reasons to be careful before creating new rights. Transforming issues into contests over rights carries a price. The same sort of thing can be said in the United States about "constitutionalizing" issues. If a policy is declared to be part of the constitution, it is automatically beyond the reach of the legislative process.

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