Right to own property
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 17. In the US Constitution: 5th Amendment (Takings Clause).
Note on this measure. EXPRCOMP grades compensation for expropriation — the "just compensation" question.
Does declaring it change anything?
Distribution of practiced scores, split by whether the constitution declares the right. If the two distributions look alike, the words on the page are not doing much work on their own.
Mean practiced score: 75% where declared, versus 80% where silent.
What the text actually says
Passages tagged with this topic, from the Constitute Project.
Amendment VAmendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Section 1Section 1 All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property.
Country by country
| Country | Declared | Practiced |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 100% | 54% |
| Albania | 100% | 80% |
| Algeria | 100% | 76% |
| Angola | 100% | 57% |
| Azerbaijan | 100% | 71% |
| Bahrain | 100% | 79% |
| Belgium | 100% | 96% |
| Benin | 100% | 87% |
| Bhutan | 100% | 72% |
| Bolivia | 100% | 72% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 100% | 85% |
| Brazil | 100% | 80% |
| Burma/Myanmar | 100% | 53% |
| Cambodia | 100% | 63% |
| Cape Verde | 100% | 83% |
| Central African Republic | 100% | 55% |
| Chad | 100% | 79% |
| Cyprus | 100% | 79% |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 100% | 47% |
| Djibouti | 100% | 66% |
| Dominican Republic | 100% | 81% |
| Ecuador | 100% | 77% |
| Egypt | 100% | 73% |
| El Salvador | 100% | 67% |
| Eritrea | 100% | 34% |
| Eswatini | 100% | 43% |
| Gabon | 100% | 81% |
| Guinea | 100% | 54% |
| Guinea-Bissau | 100% | 73% |
| Haiti | 100% | 67% |
| Indonesia | 100% | 73% |
| Iraq | 100% | 70% |
| Israel | 100% | 87% |
| Japan | 100% | 91% |
| Kenya | 100% | 74% |
| Kuwait | 100% | 69% |
| Laos | 100% | 53% |
| Latvia | 100% | 89% |
| Lebanon | 100% | 74% |
| Liberia | 100% | 76% |
| Luxembourg | 100% | 92% |
| Madagascar | 100% | 82% |
| Mauritania | 100% | 74% |
| Mozambique | 100% | 61% |
| Namibia | 100% | 78% |
| Nicaragua | 100% | 63% |
| Niger | 100% | 73% |
| North Korea | 100% | 12% |
| Papua New Guinea | 100% | 67% |
| Paraguay | 100% | 76% |
| Philippines | 100% | 79% |
| Poland | 100% | 85% |
| Portugal | 100% | 81% |
| Qatar | 100% | 40% |
| Republic of the Congo | 100% | 66% |
| Romania | 100% | 88% |
| Rwanda | 100% | 39% |
| Slovakia | 100% | 92% |
| South Africa | 100% | 85% |
| Sri Lanka | 100% | 83% |