01
Some constitutional rights primarily limit what government may do. Courts can provide remedies in a proper case, but the scope, remedy, and applicable level of government depend on doctrine and facts.
The central credibility test
A principle is not law simply because we call it a right.
Rights and public commitments differ in who creates them, who enforces them, what remedy exists, and how easily they change. This site keeps those differences visible.
Default label for this project
Unless otherwise labeled, the ten guarantees are proposed public commitments—not claims about rights currently enforceable under the United States Constitution.
Eight legal and civic categories
Origin, enforcement, remedy, durability
These summaries are educational working material, not personal legal advice. Doctrine and state law require jurisdiction-specific research.
02
State constitutions can recognize rights and governmental duties that are framed differently from the federal Constitution. Their scope and enforceability vary by state.
03
Legislatures can create eligibility, benefits, duties, causes of action, and appeal rights. These can be enforceable without being constitutional, and later legislation can amend them.
04
Agencies implement authority granted by law through rules, guidance, inspections, adjudication, and enforcement. A rule cannot legitimately outrun its legal authority.
05
A community may commit to provide schools, transit, libraries, clinics, utilities, or other services. Real access depends on budgets, capacity, geography, eligibility, and administration.
06
International instruments can express principles, bind states under specified conditions, or guide interpretation and policy. An international principle is not automatically a directly enforceable U.S. domestic claim.
The official text of the Universal Declaration provides the international historical baseline; domestic effect must be analyzed separately. United Nations
07
A public commitment can guide legislation, budgeting, administration, organizing, measurement, and criticism without already being law. This is the default status of the ten guarantees on this site.
08
Advocating an amendment is different from claiming it already exists. A proposal has no constitutional force unless it completes the amendment process.
Franklin Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights was a presidential proposal, not a ratified amendment. Second Bill of Rights Address
Comparison tool
The same word can hide very different institutions
The desktop table is paired with stacked cards on narrow screens so no reader must pan across an unreadable grid.
CategoryCreated byEnforced byTypical remedyDurabilityExampleThis site labels it
Constitutional rights that restrict government Federal Constitution and amendments Courts; public officials; political institutions Injunction, exclusion, damages in some settings, invalidation Highest formal amendment barrier; interpretation can change Protection against specified government action Constitutional right
State constitutional rights State constitution and amendments State courts and institutions State-law judicial and political remedies Usually more amendable than the federal Constitution State education or environmental provisions State constitutional right
Statutory rights and entitlements Congress or a state/local legislature Courts, agencies, administrators Benefit, review, damages, penalty, or injunction as authorized Depends on legislation, funding, and judicial interpretation A defined benefit for an eligible person Statutory entitlement Statutory protection
Regulatory protections Agency under statutory authority Agency, courts, regulated institutions Compliance order, penalty, administrative or judicial review Can change with law, process, leadership, and review Safety, privacy, market, or environmental rule Regulatory protection
Public-service commitments Law, budget, charter, or public institution Administrators, oversight bodies, political process; courts sometimes Service, appeal, oversight, or political accountability Varies with funding and institutional design A funded service available under stated rules Public-service commitment
International human-rights norms Treaty, declaration, or international institution Depends on instrument and domestic implementation International or domestic mechanisms, if applicable Depends on the instrument and state practice Universal Declaration principle International human-rights norm
Aspirational civic guarantees Public argument, platform, institution, or civic process Political and institutional accountability until enacted None automatically; depends on later implementation Depends on adoption, design, and public support The proposed Next Square Deal guarantee Proposed policy Proposed public guarantee Aspirational principle
Proposed constitutional amendments Proposal under constitutional amendment process Not enforceable before ratification None as constitutional law before ratification If ratified, constitutional; before then, proposal only An economic-rights amendment proposal Proposed policy
Constitutional rights that restrict government
- Created by
- Federal Constitution and amendments
- Enforced by
- Courts; public officials; political institutions
- Typical remedy
- Injunction, exclusion, damages in some settings, invalidation
- Durability
- Highest formal amendment barrier; interpretation can change
- Example
- Protection against specified government action
State constitutional rights
- Created by
- State constitution and amendments
- Enforced by
- State courts and institutions
- Typical remedy
- State-law judicial and political remedies
- Durability
- Usually more amendable than the federal Constitution
- Example
- State education or environmental provisions
Statutory rights and entitlements
- Created by
- Congress or a state/local legislature
- Enforced by
- Courts, agencies, administrators
- Typical remedy
- Benefit, review, damages, penalty, or injunction as authorized
- Durability
- Depends on legislation, funding, and judicial interpretation
- Example
- A defined benefit for an eligible person
Regulatory protections
- Created by
- Agency under statutory authority
- Enforced by
- Agency, courts, regulated institutions
- Typical remedy
- Compliance order, penalty, administrative or judicial review
- Durability
- Can change with law, process, leadership, and review
- Example
- Safety, privacy, market, or environmental rule
Public-service commitments
- Created by
- Law, budget, charter, or public institution
- Enforced by
- Administrators, oversight bodies, political process; courts sometimes
- Typical remedy
- Service, appeal, oversight, or political accountability
- Durability
- Varies with funding and institutional design
- Example
- A funded service available under stated rules
International human-rights norms
- Created by
- Treaty, declaration, or international institution
- Enforced by
- Depends on instrument and domestic implementation
- Typical remedy
- International or domestic mechanisms, if applicable
- Durability
- Depends on the instrument and state practice
- Example
- Universal Declaration principle
Aspirational civic guarantees
- Created by
- Public argument, platform, institution, or civic process
- Enforced by
- Political and institutional accountability until enacted
- Typical remedy
- None automatically; depends on later implementation
- Durability
- Depends on adoption, design, and public support
- Example
- The proposed Next Square Deal guarantee
Proposed constitutional amendments
- Created by
- Proposal under constitutional amendment process
- Enforced by
- Not enforceable before ratification
- Typical remedy
- None as constitutional law before ratification
- Durability
- If ratified, constitutional; before then, proposal only
- Example
- An economic-rights amendment proposal
Evidence
Sources for this explainer
Source type, role, and limitations are shown so readers can judge what each item can—and cannot—support.
Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation
Congress.gov, Library of Congress
- Published
- Constitutional text with congressional annotations
- Accessed
- August 11, 2026
- Role
- Historical, Contextual
The constitutional text, amendments, and links to the congressionally prepared Constitution Annotated.
Limits: The constitutional text must be read with case law and doctrine; this entry is not a substitute for legal advice or a current issue-specific survey.
The Bill of Rights
National Archives and Records Administration
- Published
- December 15, 1791
- Accessed
- August 11, 2026
- Role
- Historical, Contextual
The National Archives presentation and transcript of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
Limits: The document's text does not by itself explain modern incorporation, remedies, or the boundary between governmental and private conduct.
Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection and Other Rights
Constitution Annotated, Congress.gov
- Published
- Continuously updated congressional legal reference
- Accessed
- August 11, 2026
- Role
- Contextual, Methodological
A congressional legal reference organizing the Fourteenth Amendment's citizenship, due process, equal protection, incorporation, and voting-rights doctrine.
Limits: This is a high-level entry point into a large body of doctrine; legal conclusions require attention to the specific issue, jurisdiction, and current cases.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
United Nations
- Published
- December 10, 1948
- Accessed
- August 11, 2026
- Role
- Historical, Contextual, Supporting
The General Assembly declaration setting out a common standard of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms.
Limits: The declaration is an international norm and historical reference; it is not by itself a directly enforceable domestic claim in United States courts.
1944 State of the Union Address Text
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
- Published
- January 11, 1944
- Accessed
- August 11, 2026
- Role
- Historical, Contextual
The text of Roosevelt's 1944 annual message proposing an economic bill of rights concerned with work, food, housing, health, education, and security.
Limits: The address was a presidential proposal, not an enacted constitutional amendment, and its broad language does not settle institutional design.