It is more important for students to be able to identify the various similarities and dissimilarities among the countries than it is for them to correctly categorize the rights. Check to see if the students can identify similarities or differences among the constitutions. Inform students that merely because rights exist on paper, in a constitution, does not insure that they will be enforced or provided in society. If there is not an independent judiciary, a regulated police or a means for controlling government corruption and fraud, these rights may be denied in reality. The Liberty category consists of civil rights and political rights .
Civil rights are personal rights that exist between the individual and the government.
Civil rights are limits on the government's power over the individual. The civil right to life means that the government should not kill the individual. Other examples of civil rights include freedom of speech, freedom from torture, right to a fair trial, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, freedom of movement within one's own country, and the right to leave and enter one's own country. Political rights are those rights of citizens to form and administer government. For example, the right to vote and elect the government is a political right.