People's actual experiences with human rights reveal which ones are the most prevalent in their daily lives, and thus provide a possible basis for estimating their relative importance and for adopting appropriate policies. Denials and abuses are relatively rare in the Western world, but different groups have very different experiences. The most disadvantaged groups are the members of minority races (especially blacks). Upper income groups have better experiences than the others, suburban dwellers better than urbanites or rural inhabitants, and men better than women regarding most rights. Property rights are rarely a source of either positive or negative experiences. The greatest problems result from acts in the civil society and from local abuses, not from national governments, which, however, have distinct responsibilities of their own.
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.