Declarations tend to be statements of principles and values and rights, personal as well as political, with cultural and moral and philosophical dimensions. They usually try to spell out the ‘moral operating system’ of a society or a group within a society. They also can serve as political statements that may originate with one group within society, but that aim to touch a chord with others outside their group.
In most cases, they seek to galvanize a citizenry into action, to convince others of the rightness and righteousness of their cause. They also often target audiences far outside their bounds — audiences in many cases whose support those issuing the declarations believe they will need to bring their quest to realize the ends set forth in the documents.
They are typically meant to be justifications for seeking independence, autonomy, freedom, from something or someone. Even when written by just one individual or a small coterie, they typically claim to be the spokesperson or spokespeople for a particular group . They often claim to be victims of a kind of oppression or constraint that’s antithetical, by their way of seeing things, to the purposes of government or of being governed. In most cases, declarations make the case that if their calls for independence strike a spark and achieve the goals in mind, then there will be greater freedom for those who rally to their banner.
