"Giving an account"

A thought, taken from a relatively recent lecture by George Weigel:

If democracy is more than institutions and procedures -- if democratic institutions and procedures are the expressions of a distinctive way of life based on specific moral commitments -- then then democratic citizenship must be more than a matter of following the procedures and abiding by the laws and regulations agreed upon by the institutions. A democratic citizen is someone who can give an account of his or her commitment to human rights, to the rule of law and equality before the law, to decision-making by the majority and protection of the rights of minorities. Democratic citizenship means being able to tell why one affirms "the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, democracy, equality, freedom and the rule of law," to cite the preamble to the European constitution.

Our own Michael Perry has emphasized a similar point, in his work on human rights.  How can "Catholic legal theory" help to provide such an "account"?  Can anything else?