The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is associated with which intellectual movement?

• A. Romanticism
• B. Enlightenment
• C. Realism
• D. Humanism

Answer: (B)

This question focuses on the Enlightenment’s influence on political ideas. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen embodies Enlightenment principles: it grounds rights in rational, universal nature and asserts that legitimate government rests on the consent of the governed and laws that protect liberty and equality. Think of how Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Locke shaped the view that individuals possess inherent rights and that rulers derive authority from a social contract and rational law. The document’s emphasis on universal rights, limited government, and protection of liberty reflects this tradition.

Romanticism centers on emotion and individual imagination; Realism focuses on depicting everyday life; Humanism, while sharing a concern for human dignity, is broader and older in origin. The specific political-philosophical focus of the Declaration aligns most closely with Enlightenment thought.