Property rights, recognized since ancient times, are an exclusive right to own or possess and transfer things to others at the individual’s discretion, and this is a right that a government exists to protect. Property was part of John Locke’s formulation of “Life, Liberty, and Property,” which became the “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, with the Declaration’s phrase both including and being more expansive than just property.
Glossary Term