ABSTRACT
To understand the current tensions and ambiguities between individual rights and an educational system based on normative principles, one must consider the evolution of individual rights within democratic societies. All democracies are based on a premise that individuals bear certain rights. Broadly interpreted, this means that the individual has a right to be protected from government interference. In this concept of individual rights, each citizen (a term subject to various definitions) has the right to engage in private actions or enter into contracts. The collective actions on the part of the government are taken only to preserve the rights of the individual citizens.
