THE ILLUSTRATION: THE NAVIMINET OF THE LIBERAL STATE AND THE FIRST SOCIAL RIGHTS
The French Revolution of 1789 was the end of the old regime. The monarch, who had held absolute power until then, gave power to the nation, to those who ceased to be subjects to become citizens. At the same time, the individual rights arise that release the man from the claws of tyranny and the power of the State is limited to that newly acquired freedom of the individual. From now on the State will recognize that man is possessing a series of rights and obligations that are inherent to his condition and will play a role of mere abstention. Based on this new structure in which the subject becomes the holder of the so -called civil and political rights, the rule of law arises. In fact, the two main characteristics of the rule of law are) that it is recognized that the freedom of man is prior to the existence of the State and that therefore is, unlimited, which means that the State has no legitimacy for limit it) that the power of the State is distributed between different organs whose main objective is to guarantee the fulfillment of those natural rights.
It is striking that despite this new conception of state, several constitutional texts of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century collect different social rights inside. For example, the French Constitution of 1793 is expressly referred to the right to work or the right of assistance in cases of need. At the same time, there are also examples of assumptions in which, despite not being an express part of the constitutional content, different public policies were carried out that aimed to activate social rights and face the unlimited individual freedom. This is the case of Theodore Roosevelt in the United States, von Bismarck in Germany or General Santander in Colombia.
Thus, while some social rights such as Social Security were adopted in Germany, in the United States different economic measures were taken that disturbed the tranquility of monopolies implanted by large companies. For its part, in Colombia, General Santander opted for great support for the right of education. However, and as we have already seen, these measures require public participation that contrast with the duty of abstention of the state of a liberal state.
That is why it should be thought that the social rights that were recognized at the end of the 18th century or throughout the 19th century could not be considered authentic rights, but would always be subordinated to that individual freedom. It would not be until the early twentieth century, after World War I, when constitutions began to be written that consecrated a broad number of social rights to try to alleviate the serious inequalities that had uncovered that war conflict.
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