Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Visions of the World Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Article.Sentence) or (Preamble.Sentence)

Quote #4

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (21.1)

The declaration makes a big plug for representative democracy here. Can you really have human rights if you have no role in enforcing them? A society where human rights are merely entrusted to higher-ups without any say from the people would quickly become a society with no rights at all.

Quote #5

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. (28.1)

The words "international order" make some people freak out and think that the United Nations is trying to establish a new world order, 1984-style. In reality, this is more of a call for change than a hidden global agenda. It's aspirational. Kind of like those conversations you have late at night saying things like, "Man, if only it were like this…" A few years later, the U.N. would get tougher and ask its members to sign on to some serious commitments about human rights, but it still didn't see itself as any kind of world government.