The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The National Assembly of France released the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to declare the rights of human beings and to condemn any corruption in the government. The document lays out similar themes to the previous documents, establishing that people are born free and equal and that they have the right to “liberty, security, and resistance of oppression.”1
However, this document deviates from previous declarations of rights due to its choice to integrate the Rousseauian idea of the general will into this declaration, defending the idea of collective rights and promoting the idea that laws are based on the community.
Article VI: The law is an expression of the will of the community. All citizens have a right to concur, either personally, or by their representatives, in its formation.2
In this, the French National Assembly is starting to integrate the idea that human rights are not simply for individuals nor are they separate from the public sphere. Instead, some human rights are communal and promote the common good—often through things like majority rule—yet every person still retains the right to dissent from the typical perspective.
1. Declaration of the Right of Man and the Citizen, France, 26 August 1789, https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1789/en/12235
2. ibid.