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3 - Rights

from Part I - Values

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2025

By
Rowan Cruft
Edited by
Richard Bellamy  and
Jeff King
Richard Bellamy
Affiliation:
University College London
Jeff King
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

This chapter attempts two tasks, conceptual and normative. First, I argue that constitutions need not include rights as a matter of logic: it is possible for a set of laws and conventions to qualify as a genuine constitution of a state or legal system, even if they do not contain any rights – or almost none. Nonetheless, secondly, I argue that rights-free constitutions miss out on something valuable: it is hard to see non-rights constitutions as intended to serve citizens qua individuals. In particular, I argue that there are strong reasons in favour of constitutional rights on both natural rights and democratic grounds. I end by explaining the way in which rights function as limits on government power: we will see that they need not be the limits that constitutionalists endorse.

Keywords

rightsnatural rightsdemocracyHohfeldconstitutionsconstitutionalism
Type
Chapter
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The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory , pp. 38 - 55
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Recommended Reading

Cruft, R. (2019). Human Rights, Ownership, and the Individual, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruft, R., Matthew Liao, S., & Renzo, M., eds. (2015). Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabre, C. (2000). Social Rights under the Constitution: Government and the Decent Life, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinberg, J. (1970). The Nature and Value of Rights. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 4 (4), 243–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, J. (2011). Can There be a Written Constitution? In Green, L. and Leiter, B., eds., Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 162–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, M. (2018). Rights and Demands, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, C. (1988). Rethinking Democracy: Freedom and social cooperation in politics, economy, and society, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hohfeld, W. N. (1964). Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning and Other Legal Essays, New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Ihara, C. K. (2004). Are Individual Rights Necessary? A Confucian Perspective. In Shun, K.-L. and Wong, D. B., eds., Confucian Ethics: A Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 11–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, P. (1994). Rights, Basingstoke: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramer, M., Simmonds, N. E., & Steiner, H. (1998). A Debate Over Rights: Philosophical Enquiries, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Neuman, G. (2003). Human Rights and Constitutional Rights: Harmony and Dissonance. Stanford Law Review, 55 (5), 1863–1900.Google Scholar
Raz, J. (1986). The Morality of Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shute, S., & Hurley, S. (1993). On Human Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1993, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Thomson, J. (1990). The Realm of Rights, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Waldron, J., ed. (1984). Theories of Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Waldron, J. (2016b). Constitutionalism: A Skeptical View. In Waldron, J., ed., Political Political Theory: Essays on Institutions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 23–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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  • Rights
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.005
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  • Rights
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Rights
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.005
Available formats
×