International Institutions - Human Rights

KEY POINTS- Global HR regime

The International Bill of Human Rights provides an authoritative list of interdependent, indivisible and universal human rights, covering a wide range of both civil, political, economic, social and cultural rightsThe extensive body of almost universally endorsed law is the most important contribution of the global human rights regime. These norms, independent or any supervisory mechanisms, help to empower human right advocates and constrain government actionThe global human rights regime is based on national implementation of international norms Multilateral implementation mechanisms facilitate national compliance, primarily through mobilising public scrutiny that reminds states of their obligations and draws national and international attention to violationsStrong multilateral procedures are a consequence, not a cause, of good human rights practices 

KEY POINTS- Bilateral politics of HR

In the mid 1970s human rights begin to emerge from its cold war slumber as an active concern of national foreign policies With the end of the cold war, more and more countries developed increasingly robust international human rights policies Post 9/11 world has seen some prominent setbacksStates often have more resources to bring to bear than multilateral actorsStates are most constrained by competing foreign policy interests and much more likely to use human rights for narrow partisan purposes

KEY POINTS- Non-gov. politics of HR

NGOs, operating both nationally and transnationally, are the 3rd major type of actor in the international politics of human rights Lacking the material power resources of states, NGOs are able to mobilise the political energies of civil society and, by acting with a single-minded focus on human rights, achieve results well beyond what one might expect from their modest material resourcesEfforts by local civil society actors, transnational NGOs, states, and international organisations to pressure states both from inside and outside are most effective when made together 

KEY POINTS- HR and IR theory 

Human rights have been constructed internationally in a particular war, covering a particular range of recognised rights, distinguished in a particular way from related concepts and practices, with particular mechanisms of implementation and enforcementThese constructions reflect, like all social constructions, a particular perspective that privileges certain interests and values over othersMost states in the contemporary world have come to understand their national interests to include the fate of foreign nationals living abroad who are suffering gross and persistent systematic violations of their human rights