Overemphasizing Civil Rights Undermines Civic Responsibility (From America's Victims: Opposing Viewpoints, P 62-68, 1996, David Bender, Bruno Leone, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-165502)

• NCJ Number: 165509
• Author(s): A Etzioni
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Opposing Viewpoints Series

Annotation

Communitarians believe that the source of decline in the civic responsibility of Americans lies in an excessive emphasis on civil rights and that more attention needs to be placed on public safety and community.

Abstract

Contemporary American civil culture is characterized by a strong sense of entitlements and by an imbalance between rights and responsibilities. Correcting this imbalance requires a four- point agenda: moratorium on the "minting" of most if not all new rights; re-establishing the link between rights and responsibilities; recognizing that some responsibilities do not entail rights; and adjusting some rights to changed circumstances. Demands for more rights make it difficult to achieve compromise and reach consensus, processes that lie at the heart of democracy. Even if lawyers and judges realize among themselves that individual rights are limited by the rights of others and by community needs, the discourse on rights becomes impoverished and confrontational as the language of rights penetrates into every aspect of society. A return to social virtues, interests, and responsibilities will reduce contentiousness and enhance social cooperation. The best way to curb authoritarianism and right-wing tendencies is to introduce carefully calibrated responses to urgent and legitimate public safety concerns. 1 illustration