The fight for limit the political power is as old as the history of mandkind, but it was not until the Middle Ages that the limits for the power arrive

In the 12th Century Spain, with the Magna Carta for the Kingdom of Leon in 1188

In the early 13th Century England with the British Magna Carta in 1215, teh groeing of the power was prevented for being arbitrarily used against their subjects, theough the enshrinement of Due Process of Law and Home Privacy Rights

In 1689, the British King was forzed to accept the British Bill of Rights

In the late 17th Century, the British philosopher
John Locke argued in favor of restricting the royal power, defending religious tolerance
and the protection of the natural right to property.

French political philosophers of
the 18th Century, such as Montesquieu and Rousseau, defended the division of State's functions in order to limit power.

During the same period, German philosopher Immanuel
Kant made the case for bestowing rights to all rational beings, in recognition of their natural dignity.

On the political front, liberal revolutions during the late 18th Century also bolster the cause of the protection of individual rights. Thus, after the success of the United States Revolution, the first set of amendments
to the American Constitution, in 1791, came in the shape of a Bill of Rights

Shortly after that, at the outset of the French Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was issued by the revolutionaries in power.

This trend is known as the "positivization" of human rights, that is, their translation into human-made law.

By the mid 19th Century, it was clear in Europe
that the rights enshrined after the liberal revolutions would not suffice. Those rights referred to the limitation of power and the
protection of the individual in its most intimate sphere.

They also dealt with the participation of the individual in the social, economic and political life of the community, including the right to elect public officials and representativesand to run for public office. In a word, they were the "rights of liberty", also known as "first generation rights" or "civil and political rights".
But now, the need was felt to recognize the "rights of equality" to improve the material conditions of the poor and most vulnerable classes of society. The set of rights which aimed at having basic needs satisfied has been called, in the last several decades, the "second generation" of rights, or
"economic, social and cultural rights". The State was now expected to deliver, not just to keep its hands off.

These were civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural rights. Yet, they were tailored to the needs of specific groups such as women, children, disabled people and indigenous people. These groups are either objectively vulnerable (as in the case of disabled people or children) or they have been made vulnerable through a history of discrimination and exclusion (as in the case of women and indigenous people).

Since the 1970s some "collective rights" right
rights were proclaimed. For example, the to peace, the right to development and the right to a clean, sustainable environment.

Since the 1970s some "collective rights" right
rights were proclaimed. For example, the to peace, the right to development and the right to a clean, sustainable environment.

Accordingly, the "first generation"
or "first wave" of rights would be that which protects the intimate sphere of the individual, as does the right to life, to privacy, to security and the like. This first generation
also comprises the right to participate in the political life of the community, including the election of representatives and running for public office. For some authors,
political rights would constitute a second generation.

Afterwards, due to the social revolutions
of the mid 19th Century Europe, a "second generation" or wave of rights came to the fore. It refers to material life conditions, including the rights to work, to health, to education and to social security.
In the second half of the 20th Century, a "third generation" of rights has been said to appear. For some, it is made of the specification
of rights for certain groups. For others, it refers to collective rights.

The point is that these
"generations" of rights are intertwined and it is not possible to establish a hierarchy among them. For instance, the right to life - a first generation right - needs the adequate protection of the right to health - a second generation right - and of the right to an unpolluted environment - a third generation right - to be really fulfilled.