ABSTRACT
One of the core elements of modern civilization, at the imaginary level as well as institutionally, is the system of rights that it has established with reference mainly to individuals (collectivities featuring almost residually in this regard). Law embodies such rights and, to sustain it practically, another institutional element was created-the judicial system. It was part and parcel of modernity at its inception and has, on the other hand, undergone change throughout its evolution. A bureaucratic body to deal especially with social rights complemented it. Of course the political system relates to a crucial aspect of the system of rights. To a large extent it is on the functioning of these elements that justice in modernity rests. As an aspiration and as a reality, citizenship has been the utmost expression of this imaginary and institutional core of this civilization. This set of imaginary and institutional elements, in its intertwinement with practices, offers the concrete articulation of democracy. Latin America shares in this sort of development. The understanding of this particular sort of issue, which is on the other hand general enough, allows for a good entrance into the development of modern civilization in Latin America and is crucial to understanding some of its pivotal contemporary features.
