There are two main forms of group rights, characterised by the way in which they are distributed and exercised. The first example of group rights is a differential distribution of individual rights. In this model, an individual may have more rights than others on the basis of some kind of 'selection criteria.' The most common being on the grounds of race or ethnicity, for instance in the former South Africa, rights were distributed on a decreasing scale, according to the colour of a persons skin. The second type of group right is a right which a group exercises collectively, it is a right that everyone has, but no one person can use. So in one conception, adding group rights to individual rights would happen on an individual basis. Each person would have a sort of legal checklist of characteristics, making it possible for their specific case to be formulated for them. In the second conception, groups are pre-determined and fixed entities, which act cohesively on all matters.The term 'group rights' refers quite specifically to a certain type of group. First there are the national minorities, who have been forcibly integrated into a dominant culture, and need to be protected from further assimilatory tactics. The second type of group is one which has been marginalised, discriminated against or disadvantaged in some way, either on sexual, racial or cultural grounds. Van Dyke noted two main problems with Britain's post war liberal political theory, the first being the 'veil of ignorance' it adhered to (Stapleton). By starting from the basis of a homogenous society, in which there were no cultural, racial or even sexual boundaries, the theory (as put forward in Rawls' 'A theory of justice') had created an theoretical world which couldn't exist, thus rendering the rest of the theory useless. Other liberal writers such as Mill spoke of there being one minority, defined as intellectual dissidents who set their minds against the majority op...
