Individuals, Groups and Rights to Public Goods

Reaume, Denise G.

Abstract

Individuals, Groups and Rights to Public Goods

Denise G. Reaume

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

1988

University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 38, 1988
POSSIBLE BEARERS OF RIGHTS AND DUTIES, Vol. 3, Carl Wellman, ed., Routledge, 2002
GROUP RIGHTS, Peter Jones, ed., Ashgate Publishing, 2008

Abstract:
Are there any rights to public goods? Can they be claimed by individuals? Recent literature has elided these two questions and reached a skeptical conclusion. This oversimplifies the issue. The difficulty with individual rights claims in respect of public goods has to do less with the public nature of the good than with whether the good is participatory by nature; some but not all public goods are participatory. Thus individual rights claims to some public goods may be valid under certain circumstances. However, groups rather than individuals must hold any rights that may validly be claimed in respect of participatory public goods.

Keywords: Individual Rights, Group Rights, Rights to Public Goods

Accepted Paper Series

Date posted: July 27, 2011 ; Last revised: July 28, 2011

Suggested Citation

Reaume, Denise G., Individuals, Groups and Rights to Public Goods (1988). University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 38, 1988; GROUP RIGHTS, Peter Jones, ed., Ashgate Publishing, 2008. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1895704

Contact Information

Denise G. Reaume (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada
514-398-6694 (Phone)