Example Of Essay On The French Declaration Of The Rights Of Man

Equality is refers to the state of being equal in degree, rank, quantity, or value in all spheres of life. While speaking about equality people substitute it with words such as fairness, justice, impartiality, sameness, equivalence, and parity. Equality is a fundamental right and all nations recognize it as an essential aspect of civilized populations. In the absence of equality, a society is likely to be insecure and unjust. Many states including the United States have entrenched equality in their constitutions to ensure that the society remains cohesive. For instance, the declaration of independence noted that ‘all men are created equal’. The principle of equality was subsequently ratified and entrenched in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution.
The government remains the leading advocate for public ideals such as fairness. In the absence of strong public sector founded on ideals that promote equality, the society would not enjoy civil liberties. Every person wants justice, equal treatment, and protection of their civil liberties. Further, many people are ardent supporters of liberty, fairness, and equal opportunity. Government is the only institution capable of ensuring that these values become a reality to every individual. The government as a social construct of a society must enforce public values of equality. Failure to promote the foregoing values to the society would mean that such values are in short supply and may ultimately lead to chaos. For instance, justice is an essential feature in a society but it cannot be supplied in a marketplace or promoted by individual actions. It is the government institutions such as the legislature and judiciary that people turn to in order to enforce their rights and freedoms.
Individuals have competing values and interests. As such, if left alone, it is inconceivable that people will practice principles of equality on their own. Through its institutions, the government must try to balance individual and societal interests by upholding equality at all times regardless of a person’s social standing. However, policies such as affirmative action should not be enforced by the government because it clearly oversteps the constitutional limits by encouraging favoritism of one gender to the detriment of the other.