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The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are both effective social contracts. Events and experience that caused some type of conflict, sparked the need for change; the realization that something had to be done in order to protect and benefit the people. These two documents allowed people to have rights, which at the time would have been a groundbreaking assertion as it set forth new laws and principles. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was an effect of the revolution. It seemed as a direct blow towards the king, as the National Assembly blamed him for the discrimination, inequality and disregard that people had faced well under his power. The intent of this declaration was to let people know that they had rights and that these rights were given by God, so could not be taken away.
This contract seemed particularly aimed at taking away the privileges of the aristocracy and making everyone equal, as well as taking the power from the king and giving it to the state. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the General Assembly, at a time when World War II was the conflict. It was a social contract that intended to set a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations. This achievement was to promote respect for these rights and freedoms, both nationally and internationally, among all people. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was a society level social contract. It was directly related to the French society.
Many of the rights and laws introduced were as a result of the problems and issues being brought up because of the revolution. If you compare these rights to those of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, you will find that they are more specific and relate to the French society, but would not necessarily relate to the rest of the world. These rights dealt with the abuse of the kings power and the inequality between the three estates and this may not have been the case elsewhere. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a global level social contract.
That is to say, it was related to the world. The rights and laws are more general, so can move beyond societies. After World War II, this declaration was printed to show everyone the importance of human rights and freedoms. It worked to secure the rights universally and get them effective recognition and observance.
This also would have helped to prevent future violence, as it defined all the rights that every human obtains and stated that they could not be broken. Since there was a gap between the releases of the two declarations, it is crucial that we realize that a lot of different things happened within these time periods. One distinct difference in the Declaration of the Rights of Man is their continuous mention of law in several of the articles. The French Revolution had sparked this new, life-changing declaration to the people, but it seemed as if the state was still trying to add little clauses on law, in order to allow them to keep a slight degree of power in all matters. However, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights they make no mention of the state or government having power and it focuses on the rights each individual obtains. In the time of the French Declaration, people did not get to vote and were personally involved or represented through others, whereas by the time the Universal Declaration was published, governments were elected by the people.
Both of the declarations state that thought conscience, and speech is very important, but the Declaration of the Rights of Man states that you may be punished for abuse of this power. The Declaration of the Rights of Man does not contain as many rights as the Universal Declaration' and leaves out important rights such as no slavery or that no one shall be subjected to cruel inhuman treatment, etc. The rights of the French Declaration directly relate to the French society, whereas the Universal Declaration can be related to everyone in the world. In the Declaration of the Rights of Man they refer to people as society, whereas in the Universal Declaration they call people individuals and state that they make up a society. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written years after the Declaration of the Rights of Man, so one can see that it seems that the rights within it are built off of the French declaration, but were more wide-ranging so they could reach beyond France. However, if you look at the both of the declarations, one can tell that the similarities overwhelm the differences.
It is evident that they are both working towards the same common goal, establishing human rights and working for a better life. They both state the importance of freedom of speech, thought and opinions. They both state that people are considered equal in front of the law and in society. Perhaps the most important point they both present is the declaration to people, that they are born and remain free and remain equal in dignity and rights. It looks as though they are based on the same ideas, but the Universal Declaration was broken down and generalized so it could be related to more people. In my opinion, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a better declaration, but I think that the Declaration of the Rights of Man wouldve caused more of an effect on the people.
This was the first time that anything like this had been printed, so it would be momentous change for the people experiencing it. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights came later, so would I dont think it is as original. However, I do think the Universal declaration hit upon better content as they built onto, reformed and even added to the French Declaration. In my opinion, both declarations sought out to make a difference and they both accomplished this feat.
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Research essay sample on World War Ii Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
