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Leaving Cert Politics & Society: Arguments about human rights

How often Arguments about human rights comes up on the Politics & Society papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 5 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2024. most years

OL Asked on 3 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2024.

Arguments about human rights, Higher Level(9 marks)

Quick ones on Arguments about human rights.

(a)'Positive rights are unfair because they make some people pay for others' rights.' Whose ideas does this echo?
  1. Kathleen Lynch
  2. Robert Nozick
  3. Martha Nussbaum
(b)'Human rights are a western idea imposed on other countries.' What is this argument known as?
  1. Rooted cosmopolitanism (Appiah's view)
  2. Universalism (natural rights thinking)
  3. Cultural imperialism (cultural relativism)
(c)A government restricts movement during a pandemic to protect public health. Which argument does this illustrate?
  1. Individual rights may be limited for the wider good
  2. Rights guarantee that everyone has equal outcomes
  3. Rights must be absolute in every case, whatever the risk
Show the answers

(a) Robert Nozick

(b) Cultural imperialism (cultural relativism)

(c) Individual rights may be limited for the wider good

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Arguments about human rights.

Higher Level

Asked on 5 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2024. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Not asked
2024Q4
2023Q6
2022Q3b
2021Q6
2019Q5
2018Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Arguments about human rights questions

Arguments about human rights, 3 marks

Which argument about rights did John Locke's ideas help inspire?

  1. Political rights should be put off until a country has developed
  2. Rights are a western idea imposed on other cultures
  3. Rights protect people from the powerful, even the State
Show the answer

Rights protect people from the powerful, even the State

Locke held that people have natural rights before any government exists and that government's job is to protect them. Modern human rights law builds on this idea of limits on State power.

Arguments about human rights, 3 marks

Why do some argue that economic and social rights should be decided by politicians, not courts?

  1. Such rights do not exist in any international human rights law
  2. Spending choices belong to elected representatives
  3. Courts are always biased against the government
Show the answer

Spending choices belong to elected representatives

This separation-of-powers argument says unelected judges should not decide budgets. Others reply that courts can protect those whom politics ignores.

Arguments about human rights, 3 marks

Why do some say human rights are too individualistic?

  1. They overlook community and family obligations
  2. They give too much protection to groups and communities
  3. They ignore the individual person completely
Show the answer

They overlook community and family obligations

Communitarian critics argue rights treat people as isolated individuals. Defenders point to collective rights and the duties in UDHR Article 29.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 3 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2024.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Not asked
2024Q1i
2023Q9
2022Q1s
2021Not asked
2019Not asked
2018Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Arguments about human rights questions

Arguments about human rights, 3 marks

'Positive rights are unfair: some people pay for others' rights.' Which position is this usually linked with?

  1. Left-wing
  2. Ecofeminist
  3. Right-wing
Show the answer

Right-wing

Positive rights like healthcare are funded by taxes. The right, and Nozick in particular, see this as taking earnings without consent. The left sees such rights as a basis for equality.

Arguments about human rights, 3 marks

Some say human rights are a western idea forced on other countries. What is this argument called?

  1. Social partnership
  2. Cultural imperialism
  3. Cosmopolitanism
Show the answer

Cultural imperialism

Critics say rights reflect western values. Others reply that rights protect all humans and that many non-western states helped draft and have signed rights treaties.

Arguments about human rights, 3 marks

'Political rights can be set aside for a time so a country can develop.' What is a key criticism?

  1. Leaders may use it to hold on to power
  2. It gives citizens too many rights
  3. It is written into the UNCRC
Show the answer

Leaders may use it to hold on to power

Supporters point to fast growth in some states. Critics say rights are indivisible and that without free media and elections, corruption and abuse go unchecked.

Other Politics & Society topics

All of Leaving Cert Politics & Society