This post is a summary of a article published at Purdue.Academia.edu and was written by Kali Wright Smith, Phd in Political Science. The title is above.
There is a substantial body of research devoted to understanding the relationship between democracy and human rights performance. The dynamics of the relationship between the degree of democracy in a state and protection of empowerments rights might be different and improvements may take longer to emerge.
The expansion of democracy is often championed due that will provide citizens with a host of benefits. One of the primary advantage is government protection of human rights. There is a substantial theoretical and empirical evidence to support this idea. Beyond fundamental rights lie an expanded range of freedoms including freedom of speech, movement, religion, association and worker`s right. The transiton to democracy might bring immediate advances in human rights, but the experience of third wave democracies demonstrates that newly democratic states may experience a reversal or adopt a weaker variant of democracy, consequently, it is worth asking whether there is a change in the depth of human rights as democracies mature.
This study reveals a strong link between improvements in democracies and protections of empowerments rights. It demonstrate that longer experience with democracy produces more fortified human rights protection. Democracy have received attention in both, the academic and policy worlds. This regime is viewed as a critical factor in a country`s social and economic development. The presence of democracy is associated with superior civil society, increased economic equality, and stronger provision of public services.
Other inherent qualities of a democracy directly influenced rights. Democracies are the natural allies of human rights because as a state become more open the public gains the ability to mobilize and press for increased rights. The development of democratic institutions gives the public greater imput into the government which allow it to challenge undesirable government practices through democratic channels rather than through extreme measures. This accountability mechanism shapes the way democratic leaders perceive demands for individual rights. Democracies frequently bind themselves to international human rights law because they respond to norms ragarding the appropriateness of such behavior. Studies of compliance with international law suggest that democratic states have greater respect for their international legal obligations because they have experience with the rule of law at the domestic level.
Looking at the gap between theory and reality, Arat ( 1999,124 ) claims, ¨ I see this selective treatment of human rights and privileging of some over others as an important explanation of the failure of democracies in actually observing the recognized rights of their citizens.¨
This is a stronger test of the relationship between democracy and human rights. In addition to questions about what types of human rights democracies respect. There are challenges to the overarching idea that democracies are always superior in protecting human rights, this skepticism is grounded in the notion that in developing countries, the transition to a democratic regime does not always make a substantial difference in human rights protection. This is particularly pertinent to young democracies which often suffer from lack of proper foundations for democratic rule. However, the finding that democracy does not have a strong effect on human rights in developing countries could be due to the fact that these countries have had less experience and have not attained sufficient democratic consolidation. Greater experience with democracy also result in deeper entrenchment of democratic norms, thereby creating increased citizens expectations and demands for government rights protection.
The primary finding that the level of democracy is a critical factor in understanding protection of broader civil, political, and social rights is an important step, but this can be used as a starting point for further research. This study has shown that more work is needed to determine what factors other than democracy affect empowerment rights protection.
Arat, Zehra F. (1999) Human rights and democracy: expanding or contracting?
