# Civil Rights The Roman Empire’s system of governance included a powerful and enduring concept, jus civis in the original Latin, which means “right of the citizen”. This is the origin of the concept of civil rights. Civil rights are distinct from natural or human rights. Natural or human rights, some political philosophers assert, are innate in the sense that there is some absolute external “good” that can be argued, so everyone should have and respect these rights, but that does not make them enforceable. A civil right is agreed on by the polity and enforced by the government. #### How are civil rights relevant to the Network State? Traditional governments can say they care about civil rights and they can try to protect them. But they will be trying. The system requires trust, and a system that requires trust can yield disappointing outcomes when that trust is violated. A Network State, on the other hand, can decide to protect civil rights, enact the code, and then you can be sure those rights enshrined in code will be protected. Try? There is no try. With the Network State, you decide, and then you do or do not. The concept of trying and failing becomes irrelevant. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://gitbook.jur.io/wiki-network-state/dictionary/civil-rights.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.