Democratic Ideals The English Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence (DOI) are both documents that guarantee and protect the rights of citizens. Three specific rights that both documents focused on were liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and self-government. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Freedom in both of these documents means freedom from despotic government or foreign or external domination. And that's exactly what both of these documents did. More specifically, the Magna Carta limited the power of the king while the DOI allowed America to gain freedom from foreign rule, in this case from English rule. In the Magna Carta it states: "...and that the men in our kingdom shall have and hold all such liberties, rights and concessions..." and the DOI states: "That these united colonies are, and by right should be free and Independent states.” These exceptions and the ideas that these excerpts represent are very important because they protect the people. Furthermore, self-government is a significant ideal also represented in both documents. A self-government is when a government is controlled by its own members. In other words, a democratic government, like that of the United States. The importance of self-government is that it creates shared power with the people and the government and, in turn, also protects the rights of the people : "That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...", in other words, that the government derives its power from the people by letting the people choose indirectly who leads the government. Indirectly, they choose the representatives who will choose for them. Another crucial ideal presented in both documents is the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is defined as the fundamental right to freely pursue joy and live life in a way that makes you happy. , as long as you do not do anything illegal or violate the rights of others. This is an important ideal because it gives the people freedom from the government. In the DOI, this unalienable right (the pursuit of happiness) is mentioned in the first sentence of the second paragraph, "who are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Remember : This is just one example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a custom essay To conclude, the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence give rights to the people by presenting important ideals that shaped the world that people have learned to live by. love and respect.