Political Rights

Human rights have traditionally been divided into different categories. Political rights, together with civil rights, constitute the category usually referred to as first-generation rights. The traditional classification is as follows:
  • the first generation refers to civil and political rights;
  • the second generation comprises economic, social and cultural rights; and,
  • the third generation refers to collective rights.
Political rights, along with civil rights, are primarily designed to protect the individual against state interference, and are immediately applicable. Political rights can be seen as covering the right to political participation, that is, citizens’ right to seek to influence and participate in the public affairs of the society to which they belong. Political participation can take many forms, the most notable of which is included in the right to vote. However, it also covers the right to join a political party; the right to stand as a candidate in an election; the right to participate in a demonstration; and freedom of association. Though political and civil rights are distinct, the difference between the two is not always obvious or clear; indeed, they sometimes overlap. The freedom to express one’s opinion, and the freedom of association, for example, are clearly linked to the right to political participation, and thus are political rights, but they are often also seen as civil rights.

The right to political participation merits special attention, as it is restricted, to a large though not absolute extent [1], , to citizens. Whereas the other rights recognised by the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights inhere in human beings on the basis of their status as human beings, the right to political participation is, in part, limited to people endowed with the status of citizen. Such a status is linked to the context of a political community and, most significantly, a government. The right to political participation therefore presupposes the existence of a government [2].

Though distinct, civil rights and political rights are closely linked; their protection and fulfillment depends to a large extent on that of the other. All human rights are indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, such that the fulfillment and protection of civil and political rights depends on, and influences, other categories of human rights.

In international human rights law, political rights are protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR, drafted in 1966, entered into force in 1976, and is monitored by the Human Rights Committee. Over time, additional protocols and instruments have been created that also aim to contribute to the protection of political rights.

All States Parties to the Covenant are required to submit regular reports to the Committee on how they are realising and protecting political and civil rights. Such information is provided through self-reporting and thus might be limited. The reports provided are examined by the Committee, which then disseminates its concerns and recommendations in the form of “concluding observations.” In the framework of the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant, the Committee was given jurisdiction to examine individual complaints; however, this is not yet the case of the Committee set up to monitor economic, social and cultural rights [3].

1. For example, the freedom of opinion is not, as such, reserved to citizens.

2. See Klein, H.,The Right to Political Participation and the Information Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, presented at the Global Democracy Conference in Montreal, 29 May – 1 June 2005.

3. For further information, please refer to the web site of the OHCHR, www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/index.htm.