''Freedom. A Plea'' (german: Freiheit. Ein Plädoyer) is a book by

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

, the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

, released on 20 February 2012, the day after his nomination. In the book, consisting of 64 pages, Gauck describes his thoughts on freedom,

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and tolerance. The book calls for the defense of freedom and human rights around the globe, particularly in "communist, fanatical islamist or despotic states." He also defends market economy. The book has been referred to as his political program, and as echoing the peaceful revolution of 1989.

Bibliography

, ''Freiheit. Ein Plädoyer'', Kösel, München 2012, .

References

German books 2012 non-fiction books Books about human rights Books in political philosophy Anti-communism in Germany Joachim Gauck {{europe-poli-book-stub