... they are based on a non-existent, abstract human being and that the idea of the individual is intertwined with the idea of the collective people. The declaration of such universal and inalienable rights can only be assured by the collective rights of the people to sovereign self-government even though it is supposed to rest on an individual's personal autonomy. In the structure of the liberal democratic nation-state, rights are based on man as a member of the community and not as an individual. Thus, the Rights of Man would always be acknowledged as the rights of the people; and if an individual is not part of that system, they can hardly be recognised and protected by that very system. The idea of the Rights of Man is thought by Arendt to be impracticable. Once a person ceases to be under the protection of the government of a nation-state, there ...

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