Norms and Rights: A Non-Recursive Model of Human Rights Protection.

Drawing on theories from international relations, international law, and comparative politics, this paper tests the relationship between international human rights norms and human rights protection. Using a cross-national time series data set for 169 countries over the period 1976-2000, the paper explores the temporal and spatial patterns in the growth in the international human rights regime and the protection of human rights, and then models their mutual relationship using non-recursive estimation techniques, while controlling for the influences of democracy, wealth, international interdependence, warfare, population size, and regional differences. The results of the analysis show three things. First, the norms-rights relationship between the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the protection of civil and political rights is statistically significant and stronger than for the rights-norms relationship. Second, democracy, wealth, and international interdependence help explain both treaty ratification and greater protection of human rights. Third, the norms-rights relationship is less strong for Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Overall, the findings suggest that formal participation in the international regime of human rights complements patterns of development, democratisation, and global interdependence, all of which are related to a greater protection of human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]