hatred; incitement to discrimination, territorial separatism, or public violence; and obscene acts, contrary to good morals."9 One wonders whether an ethnic Hungarian, inclined to complain about conditions in Transylvania, would rely on his "inviolable" right to speak freely when the Constitution itself declares such sweeping and malleable exceptions? Negative rights such as freedom of expression are essential to liberal democracy. They enlarge the sphere of individual autonomy and bolster the open society. No rights are more critical to the success of constitutional democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Sweeping exceptions to such rights threaten the very idea of democracy. Self-government presupposes a citizen's right to criticise public officials and their actions. Vague exceptions to the free speech principle give excessive discretion to government officials to decide what expression is permissible and what is not. An elastic approach to freedom of expression is especially dangerous to national, ethnic, and other minorities, to the political opposition, in short, to just the people who most need the constitution's protection. Affirmative rights. The twentieth century has brought entitlements (such as social security) and positive government. A corollary of more activist government is constitutional provisions that declare affirmative rights. This approach to rights is especially obvious in countries in Central and Eastern Europe which, although they have put one-party government behind them, have powerful traditions of social democracy. A new constitution's preamble may announce a commitment to the market economy, but the enumeration of social and economic rights bespeaks a different cast of mind. Thus the new bills of rights spell out claims upon government, such as the right to an education, the right to a job, and the benefits of care in one's old age. The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, adopted in January 1991 for the now defunct Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, is typical. It declares that workers "are entitled to fair remuneration for work and to satisfactory working conditions."10 Other sections decree free medical care, material security in one's old age, maternity benefits, and assistance to assure the needy of "basic living conditions." The use of a bill of rights as an affirmative tool presents special problems. The traditional rights, such as expression or assembly, tell government what it cannot do and may be enforced through injunctions and other familiar judicial remedies. Affirmative rights tell government what it must do. Here enforcement is more problematical. Affirmative rights commonly entail legislative implementation or decisions about allocation of resources -- tasks for which courts are often ill-suited. Anyone familiar with cases in which American judges have become administrators of school systems, prisons, and other public institutions will understand the skewing effect that decreeing affirmative rights has on public budgets.11 One need not necessarily conclude that there is no place in a constitution for affirmative rights. Insofar as social or economic rights reflect an aspiration to a more just society, it is appropriate that they be viewed as having constitutional implications. But there is the danger that if some of a constitution's provisions, such as social rights, cannot be judicially enforced, then citizens may take the entire document less seriously. As long as a constitution was viewed as a political document, the problem of enforceability was less obvious. But with the creation of constitutional courts in Central and Eastern Europe, the issue of justifiability becomes more pressing. A constitution ought not to read like a political party's platform. Consider the unfortunate example of Brazil's 1988 Constitution. All 559 members of Brazil's Congress, working without a master plan, participated in the drafting of the Constitution.12 The resulting document is unrivalled among constitutions for conferring favours upon special-interest groups. There are, for example, 37 sections CSCE ODIHR BULLETIN Vol. 2, No. 1 7