Liberal republican governments such as ours use constitutional rights and laws to facilitate personal freedoms. Governments are more repressive in other countries. For example, people may not be free to speak their minds on political matters (Uzbekistan[1]); people may be told which religion to practice (Saudi Arabia[2]) or may be penalized from traveling outside their region (China[3]).
- Click here to see country rankings for freedom and civil rights by Freedom House.
Excerpted from What Should Governments Do for Us?
[1] Freedom House. Uzbekistan, 2019. See item D4.
[2] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Saudi_Arabia
[3] Congressional-Executive Commission on China. (2005). Special Topic Paper: China’s Household Registration System: Sustained Reform Needed to Protect China’s Rural Migrants. https://www.cecc.gov/publications/issue-papers/cecc-special-topic-paper-chinas-household-registration-system-sustained