Whenever a basic right is denied to a group based on a shared characteristic, a civil rights issue exists Rights may be expressed as positive rights or negative rights.

Civil rights are government guarantees of equal protection under the law, regardless of membership in a group based on a shared characteristic such as race, national origin, ethnicity, sex, gender, age, or ability. In the United States, voting is an example of a civil rights issue because certain groups, like women and Black people, have historically been denied the right to vote.

civil rights — government guarantees of equal protection under the law, regardless of membership in a group based on a shared characteristic, such as race, national origin, ethnicity, sex…. suffrage — the right to vote, which is a civil right in the United States. constitutionalism — the set of political values and norms derived from a country’s constitution that serve as the basis for a government’s authority. basic right — denied to a group based on a shared characteristic, a civil rights issue exists.