「民權」（civil rights）是指弱勢群體的權利束，而不是人民的權利，更不是人民的權力。然而，不少近代思想家是在「民權」＝「人民的權力」的意義上使用，嚴復即是一例。當然，當人民在政治上尚無發言權時，將「民權」等同於「人民的權力」，本身即是一種民權運動。但是，在名義上解決了人民的政治發言權之後，將「民權」與「人民的權力」剝離開來，卻是有必要的。

The civil rights means the whole rights for vulnerable groups, not the rights of the people, even the power of the people. However many modern Chinese thinkers used the〝civil rights〞 as〝the power of the people〞, just like Yan-fu. Of course, it was the civil rights acts to look〝civil rights〞as〝the power of the people〞, when people had not any political rights. But, after the people's political rights had written on the Constitution, it is necessary to depart the〝civil rights〞from〝the power of the people〞.