Editing Rights (section)

===Positive versus negative===
{{Main|Negative and positive rights}}
In one sense, a right is a permission to do something or an entitlement to a specific service or treatment from others, and these rights have been called ''positive rights''. However, in another sense, rights may allow or require inaction, and these are called ''negative rights''; they permit or require doing nothing. For example, in some countries, e.g. the [[United States]], citizens have the ''positive right'' to vote and they have the ''negative right'' to not vote; people can choose not to vote in a given election without punishment. In other countries, e.g. [[Australia]], however, citizens have a positive right to vote but they do not have a negative right to not vote, since [[compulsory voting|voting is compulsory]]. Accordingly:
* '''Positive rights''' are permissions to do things, or entitlements to be done unto. One example of a positive right is the purported "right to welfare".<ref name=tws21decgkfjf/>
* '''Negative rights''' are permissions not to do things, or entitlements to be left alone. Often the distinction is invoked by [[libertarianism|libertarians]] who think of a ''negative right'' as an entitlement to non-interference such as a right against being assaulted.<ref name="tws21decgkfjf">{{cite news |last=Wenar |first=Leif |date=July 9, 2007 |title=Rights |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights/ |access-date=2009-12-21 |work=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=Stanford University |quote=A distinction between negative and positive rights is popular among some normative theorists, especially those with a bent toward libertarianism. The holder of a negative right is entitled to non-interference, while the holder of a positive right is entitled to provision of some good or service. A right against assault is a classic example of a negative right, while a right to welfare assistance is a prototypical positive right.}}</ref>

Though similarly named, positive and negative rights should not be confused with ''active rights'' (which encompass "privileges" and "powers") and ''passive rights'' (which encompass "claims" and "immunities").