ABSTRACT
Human rights are philosophically respectable and rhetorically irresistible. Constitutions are de rigueur, and each constitution holds at least the promise and the seed of constitutionalism. Thomas Paine had proclaimed constitutionalism as the right of man and as the foundation of all rights of man: constitutionalism is accepted by virtually all, at least in principle. He argued hotly the sovereignty of the people; popular sovereignty is accepted almost everywhere, at least in principle. Paine would glow at the realization that self-determination is a prominent principle of our times, that international institutions, reflecting universal commitment, try to keep peace between nations and promote other common goals and ideas—all of them Rights of Man. The rights of men and women are sometimes only crumbs thrown them by grace of rules; sometimes even these rights are only duties, the “right” to serve.
