Principled Voter Part 9: Rights and Responsibilities
Welcome to our Principled Voter series, which helps voters better understand the problems affecting both themselves and others in our society — and then vote in ways that work toward solutions. Principled voters are Golden Rule voters. They ask if their vote will harm others or leave people behind. Principled voters use their vote to protect others and create a better future. Here is one issue to consider as you become a principled voter.
“Freedom is never absolute, . . . it must always be contained within the framework of other people’s freedom” — Eleanor Roosevelt
A principled voter first asks, “How do my candidates balance the tension between rights and responsibility?”
Democracies must manage competition over resources, values, rights, and liberties. Balancing these interests while protecting civil liberties is our greatest challenge. Unscrupulous leaders may push us to vote as if only one or two rights matter. This constriction protects political interests, not citizens. Peaceful citizens recognize that exercising their freedoms should not come at the expense of others. Freedoms of speech, press, and peaceful assembly protect our values and hold leaders accountable to voters.
A principled voter respects both individual rights and personal responsibility. You can support leaders who understand that in a complex society, we must exercise our rights within a framework of our responsibility to our fellow citizens. Support candidates who defend rights for all groups, not just freedoms for their team. Recognize the need for compromise when rights clash, and understand how to accomplish this lawfully. Defend the rights that protect our places of refuge, including those of minority groups; these spaces can be more critical to the security and happiness of the outnumbered.
Ask yourself a few more questions:
- Which rights are most important to me? Which responsibilities accompany them?
- Do I support candidates who defend our rights and encourage citizens to behave responsibly?
- When rights are at stake, are they manipulated to consolidate power or honored in ways that encourage compromise and achieve national cohesion?