Special rights is a term originally used by
libertariansLibertarianism is a term adopted by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which advocate the maximization of individual liberty and the minimization or even abolition of the state...
to refer to laws granting rights to one or more groups which are not extended to other groups. Ideas of special rights are controversial, as they clash with the principle of
equality before the lawEquality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws, with no individual or group having special legal privileges. Legal egalitarianism admits no class structures entail separate legal practices...
.
Potential examples of special rights include
affirmative actionThe term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs...
policies or
hate crimeHate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation."Hate crime"...
legislation with regard to ethnic, religious or sexual minorities, or the state recognition of marriage as a group with different taxation than those who are non-married.
Concepts of
special rights are closely aligned with notions of
group rightsGroup rights are the rights held by a group rather than by its members severally, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; contrast with individual rights. The term group rights may also be used to describe peoples' rights, a legal concept best known in the context of...
and
identity politicsIdentity politics refers to political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of social minorities, or self-identified social interest groups. Not all members of any given group are necessarily involved in identity politics....
.
More recently,
social conservativesSocial conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed...
have used the term to more narrowly refer to measures that extend existing rights for heterosexual couples to gays and lesbians, such as in the case of same sex marriage, or that include sexual orientation as a civil rights minority group.
Special rights is a term originally used by
libertariansLibertarianism is a term adopted by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which advocate the maximization of individual liberty and the minimization or even abolition of the state...
to refer to laws granting rights to one or more groups which are not extended to other groups. Ideas of special rights are controversial, as they clash with the principle of
equality before the lawEquality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws, with no individual or group having special legal privileges. Legal egalitarianism admits no class structures entail separate legal practices...
.
Potential examples of special rights include
affirmative actionThe term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs...
policies or
hate crimeHate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation."Hate crime"...
legislation with regard to ethnic, religious or sexual minorities, or the state recognition of marriage as a group with different taxation than those who are non-married.
Concepts of
special rights are closely aligned with notions of
group rightsGroup rights are the rights held by a group rather than by its members severally, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; contrast with individual rights. The term group rights may also be used to describe peoples' rights, a legal concept best known in the context of...
and
identity politicsIdentity politics refers to political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of social minorities, or self-identified social interest groups. Not all members of any given group are necessarily involved in identity politics....
.
Other uses
More recently,
social conservativesSocial conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed...
have used the term to more narrowly refer to measures that extend existing rights for heterosexual couples to gays and lesbians, such as in the case of same sex marriage, or that include sexual orientation as a civil rights minority group. This term is also used internationally, for example
Sonderrechte in Germany, although it is used regarding special traffic right-of-way exceptions given to emergency response and military vehicles.
Legal argument
The basis behind the argument of the term is based on whether it should be considered just and legal for a law to be enacted that treats various parties unequally. For example, in the
United States ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States...
the prohibition on
Bills of AttainderA bill of attainder is an act of the legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial.-Origin:...
require that laws do not single out a single person or group of persons for specific treatment.
Another example is the
equal protection clauseThe Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "o state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"...
in the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, along with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, was adopted after the Civil War as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. It was adopted on July 9, 1868....
. Both sides argue that the other side is or has traditionally been singled out and therefore the law is either needed or unnecessary. In some cases, such as those with social implications, the universal definition of rights also often conflict with other, often more regional or local, laws that require certain public standards or behavior based on cultural norms.
Libertarianism on rights and special rights
In the encyclopedia of Libertarianism, Ronald Hamowy states:
A too-ready acceptance of alleged rights leads to an oppressive list of enforceable obligations. As the list of others' rights grows, each of us is subject to a growing burden made up of the obligations correlative to those rights; correspondingly the ability of rights to be protective of individual choice disolves. Moreover, as the list of rights grows, so too does the legitimate role of political and legal institutions, and the libertarian case for radically limiting the scope and power of such institutions withers away. Libertarian theories of rights avoid generating an oppressive list of obligations through through the employment of two crucial distinctions - the distinction between negative and positive rights and the distinction between general and special rights.
Definition of minorities
Minority rightsThe term minority rights embodies two separate concepts: first, normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities, and second, collective rights accorded to minority groups...
advocacy groups often contend that such protections confer no special rights, and describe these laws instead as protecting
equal rightsEqual rights can refer to:*Human rights, when such rights are held in common by all people*Civil rights, when such rights are held in common by all citizens of a nation*Women's rights, when such rights are held in common by both men and women...
. The differing vocabulary, some might say
rhetoricRhetoric is one of the arts of using language as a means to persuade. Along with grammar and logic or dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From ancient Greece to the late 19th Century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public...
though these views are often deeply held, often defines the difference of views.
Sexual orientation as a civil rights minority group
Ralph ReedRalph Reed may refer to:*Ralph E. Reed, Jr., American political strategist*Ralph Edwin Reed, American baseball player better known as Ted Reed*Ralph Reed , former CEO of American Express...
, Republican political strategist and former executive director of the Christian Coalition, which opposes the extension of rights to sexual minorities, said "No one should have special rights or privileges, or minority status because of their sexual behavior. We don't have it for people who are polygamists, we don't have it for people who have affairs on their wives or husbands."
Housing and employment
In many situations such as employment (in the European Union and the United States), as well as housing and public accommodations (in the United States), it is illegal to discriminate based on
genderGender commonly refers to the set of characteristics that humans perceive as distinguishing between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity. As a term, "gender" has more than one valid definition...
, race,
religionA religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth...
, and other attributes. Some states and localities outlaw discrimination based on
sexual orientationSexual orientation is a pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, both genders, neither gender, or another gender...
in certain circumstances, but many do not. The European Union forbids such discrimination in employment, but not in regard to other matters, though some member states do.
See also
- Group rights
Group rights are the rights held by a group rather than by its members severally, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; contrast with individual rights. The term group rights may also be used to describe peoples' rights, a legal concept best known in the context of...
- Identity politics
Identity politics refers to political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of social minorities, or self-identified social interest groups. Not all members of any given group are necessarily involved in identity politics....
- Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression....
- Homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda is a phrase used by some social conservatives to refer to advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual orientations and relationships. The term is regarded as pejorative by some LGBT organisations. The term is applied to efforts to change government...
- Human rights
Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
Examples:
- Racial quota
- All-women shortlists
The use of all-women shortlists is a political practice of reverse discrimination intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom by banning male candidates from standing in particular constituencies. Though the practice is available to all parties, only...