The Right to Housing (part 1)

There's a topic that has been bothering me recently as I considered the 2009 Taylor Symposium topic - the American Promise and housing - namely, is there a "right to housing"? That issue is/was too broad for the limited time available at the Symposium so I am going to try to work through that issue in a couple of posts, of which this is the first (don't be surprised if you come back and I've revised/edited as it is a thought-in-process).

Let's start with what is meant by "right(s)". Have you ever looked the word up in the dictionary? Lot's of entries. I am not a political scientist and will probably violate a dozen issues in that field, but I find a discussion of rights can generally broken down into three types:

1. Natural rights that are absolute, common to all persons, and inalienable except when taken by unjust force. An example of such rights in the Declaration of Independence are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Violations of these rights are often enforced through criminal law.

2. Social or civil rights that are provided through law, enforced by the community as a whole (often through a police and/or judicial process if necessary), and are transferable through contract. By "civil", I mean "established by law" as opposed to the more common "Civil Rights Act of 1964" as used in the United States. An example of such rights are the bundle of rights included in fee simple title to real estate. Violation of these rights are commonly litigated through civil law. Natural rights are sometimes embodied into social rights by law as well.

3. Economic rights that are relative and evolving over time. Examples of these rights are policies/programs known as "entitlements" (e.g. social security payments that are available to all persons who are disabled, meet certain age requirements, etc.). Economic rights are always(?) embodied into social rights by law as well. The term "economic rights" is sometimes used to describe what I've defined as natural rights above.

For the purposes of these posts, I mean the following (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary) by "right":

"...something to which one has a just claim...the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled..."

Clearly, the concept of "just" (i.e. "...acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good...") is closely tied to this definition of rights. And, from the three types of rights noted above, it is most closely tied to natural rights.

In short, is there a natural right to housing? Dust off the college textbooks boys and girls, this will be a trip back to the basics of western civilization, more to come...