Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Human Rights Regime In West Africa: The Case Of Ecowas And The Journey To Nigeria's Fourth Republic, Fatima Mercy Aigbomian

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As regional economic communities within Africa expanded into courts to resolve economic disputes and these courts further metamorphosed into human rights courts, scholars of international human rights law have theorized about the reason for the “proliferation” of human rights mechanisms in Africa. This article examines why regional economic communities have courts whose jurisdiction have been expanded to hear human rights claims. I focus on the role of domestic politics and the strategic leadership of dominant member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Contrary to approaches that emphasize human rights courts are a well-orchestrated showmanship utilized as …

Knocking On Europe's Door: A Comprehensive Analysis Of The European Response To The 2015 Refugee Crisis And The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis, Jacob J. Mckim

Global Studies Senior Capstone

Europe is, and has long been at the center of refugee reception for many areas of the world due to its geographical position and general security. However, the European response to refugees has varied drastically in different situations. This paper examines the European response to both the 2015 Refugee Crisis and the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis. The focus being on what factors, whether political, racial, or religious, has led for some individuals to be received more favorably in Europe than others. Through examining this, the conditions for successful and long-lasting refugee reception hopefully be more clearly seen.

Does Electoral Proximity Influence Commitment To International Human Rights Law?, Nolan Ragland

Baker Scholar Projects

The core international human rights treaties from the United Nations have been signed and ratified by varying groups of states, and much of previous research has been dominated by a desire to explain ratification of international human rights law (IHRL) through the democratic lock-in effect and states’ economic and political ties to one another. In this paper, I seek to understand when states are ratifying IHRL, testing whether the presence of elections influences commitment to three of the nine core international human rights treaties: the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of …

The Moralist International: Russia In The Global Culture Wars, Kristina Stoeckl, Dmitry Uzlaner

Politics

The Moralist International analyzes the role of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state in the global culture wars over gender and reproductive rights and religious freedom. It shows how the Russian Orthodox Church in the past thirty years first acquired knowledge about the dynamics, issues, and strategies of Right- Wing Christian groups; how the Moscow Patriarchate has shaped its traditionalist agenda accordingly; and how the close alliance between church and state has turned Russia into a norm entrepreneur for international moral conservativism. Including detailed case studies of the World Congress of Families, anti-abortion activism, and the global homeschooling …

The Domestic Impact Of International Shaming: Evidence From Climate Change And Human Rights, Faradj Koliev, Douglas D. Page, Jonas Tallberg

Political Science Faculty Publications

Do international shaming efforts affect citizens’ support for government policies? While it is a frequent claim in the literature that shaming works through domestic politics, we know little about how and when international criticism affects domestic public opinion. We address this question through an originally designed survey experiment in Sweden, which (i) compares the effects of international shaming in two issue areas—human rights and climate change, and (ii) tests whether government responses to criticism moderate the impact of shaming. Our main findings are fourfold. First, we find substantial effects of international shaming on domestic public opinion. These effects hold across …

Irregular Migration In Morocco: A Case For Constructionism, Mourad Khalil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Separated by only 14 kilometers of water from Spain, Morocco has become a common destination for many sub-Saharan irregular migrants trying to reach Europe. With a large population of these migrants, Morocco has had to make important decisions on how to manage its irregular migrant population. However, the terrible conditions and regular violations of human rights that irregular migrants in Morocco are subject to lead one to ponder the role that international relations has and the extent to which human rights is a consideration in the policymaking of irregular migration. Applied to the three primary theories of international relations, liberalism, …

White Supremacy, Police Brutality, And Family Separation: Preventing Crimes Against Humanity Within The United States, Elena Baylis

Articles

Although the United States tends to treat crimes against humanity as a danger that exists only in authoritarian or war-torn states, in fact, there is a real risk of crimes against humanity occurring within the United States, as illustrated by events such as systemic police brutality against Black Americans, the federal government’s family separation policy that took thousands of immigrant children from their parents at the southern border, and the dramatic escalation of White supremacist and extremist violence culminating in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In spite of this risk, the United States does not have …

Whose Rights Are They, Anyway?, Edward A. Lynch, Courtney F. Chenette

Political Science Faculty Scholarship

The authors discuss sovereignty and the history behind a nation’s prerogative to intercede in the affairs of other nations to protect human rights.

Explaining Reproductive Health Disparities: Violence In The “Colorblind” Institution Of Medicine, Chineze Osakwe

Honors Scholar Theses

Medical policies have resulted in violence that has a formal role in regulating the reproductive rights of women of African descent in the United States from the Jim Crow era (circa 1965) to present day (2021), resulting in significantly racialized reproductive health disparities regardless of social or economic influences. This thesis explores why reproductive violence against African-American women persists, regardless of women’s own class and educational background. I have focused on the potential impact of two structural components that I hypothesized contributed to the perpetuation of reproductive violence against Black women and persistent health disparities. The two factors explored in …

How Support For Authoritarian Regimes Like Saudi Arabia Has Undermined American Soft Power, Jd Daniels

Honors Projects

The controversial state of Saudi Arabia lies at the forefront of American foreign policy debate. This article examines how and why the United States supports a country that frequently abuses human rights, and how power is involved in that decision. The most frequent reasons used are that Saudi Arabia affords the United States economic hard power (i.e. the ability to coerce others) as a trading partner, and that it acts as a strategic counterbalance to Iranian influence in the Middle East. I find that while this is likely true, it also implicates the United States in almost every violation of …

Strategic Litigation And The Evolution Of Regional Human Rights Norms: Cases From Germany And The Netherlands, Cole Kovarik

Honors Theses

This study seeks to fill gaps in our understanding of how private actors participate in international human rights politics by examining civil society involvement in European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cases against long-standing democracies. Descriptive analysis of an exhaustive data set of instances of civil society organization (CSO) participation in ECtHR cases against Germany and The Netherlands is complemented by a comparative case study analysis of networks of organizations that mobilized around German and Dutch cases concerning Articles 8 (right to privacy) and 10 (freedom of expression). The data suggest that civil society organizations not only appear before the …

Local Elected Officials’ Receptivity To Refugee Resettlement In The United States, Robert Shaffer, Lauren E. Pinson, Jonathan A. Chu, Beth A. Simmons

All Faculty Scholarship

Local leaders possess significant and growing authority over refugee resettlement, yet we know little about their attitudes toward refugees. In this article, we use a conjoint experiment to evaluate how the attributes of hypothetical refugee groups influence local policymaker receptivity toward refugee resettlement. We sample from a novel, national panel of current local elected officials, who represent a broad range of urban and rural communities across the United States. We find that many local officials favor refugee resettlement regardless of refugee attributes. However, officials are most receptive to refugees whom they perceive as a strong economic and social fit within …

The Performance Of The Christian Faith Under A Populist President: The Case Of The Philippine Church Under Duterte, Ruben C. Mendoza

Theology Department Faculty Publications

President Rodrigo Duterte has been consistent in his attacks against the Catholic Church. True to his campaign promise, he has unleashed his brutal "war on drugs" which has resulted to the deaths of thousands of suspected drug dependents and pushers. In response to his criticisms and the excesses of his anti-illegal drugs program, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has issued various pastoral statements in faithfulness to its mission.Nevertheless, the majority of Filipinos continue to support Duterte and his anti-illegal drugs stance. In this context, the call of Pope Francis for the church to become a "field hospital" becomes …

Oppression Or Occupation: Conflicting Views On The Nature Of Sex Work In France And Under International Law, Carver Wolfe

Politics and International Relations Presentations

Although there is some debate over the exact number of victims of sex trafficking, it is agreed upon that it is an issue that affect primarily women and girls around the world. This paper will examine modern day slavery and the unresolved, century-old debate surrounding sex trafficking and sex work. While abolitionists advocate for total eradication of all sex work, whether it is consensual or not, libertarians support the right to voluntary sex work while condemning the coercion and exploitation that surrounds all forms of trafficking. I will use an analysis of international conventions and will begin a comparative analysis …

Oppression Or Occupation: An International Analysis Of Sex Work And Sex Trafficking, Carver Wolfe

International Relations Summer Fellows

Although there is some debate over the exact number of victims of sex trafficking, it is agreed that it is an issue that affects primarily women and girls around the world. This paper will examine modern-day slavery and the unresolved, century-old debate surrounding sex trafficking and sex work. While abolitionists advocate for the total eradication of all sex work, whether it is consensual or not, libertarians support the right to voluntary sex work while condemning the coercion and exploitation that surrounds all forms of trafficking. I will use an analysis of international conventions and will begin a comparative analysis by …

North Korea's Treatment Of Foreign Political Prisoners In The Trump Era, Sara Allocco

Politics, Philosophy, and Legal Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This paper analyzes foreign political prisoners’ treatment in North Korea during Donald Trump’s presidency. This subject is of particular interest given the widespread media attention the Trump Administration received following detained student Otto Warmbier’s return to the United States in June 2017 and historic Singapore summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Moreover, such U.S.-North Korea relations are particularly crucial given North Korea’s strong nuclear capabilities and designation as a totalitarian country. Using the Otto Warmbier story as the primary case study as well as public opinion analysis, bar association reports, official testimony, and commentary on international …

Rhetoric And International Human Rights: The Case Of The Senegalese Talibés, Christopher Parisella

Senior Honors Projects

CHRISTOPHER PARISELLA

(Political Science, Writing & Rhetoric, French)

Rhetoric and International Human Rights: The Case of the Senegalese Talibés

Sponsor: Lynne Derbyshire (Communication Studies, Honors Program)

While in Senegal, I witnessed the hurdles faced by proponents of international human rights standards. Thousands of Muslim boys, called talibés, undertake their Koranic education in Senegal. Many are forced to beg in the streets by their educators, and abuse in the schools is common. Still, this education is considered a valuable part of the boys’ spiritual development. Despite the multitude of countries that have openly supported and ratified international human rights compacts, many …

The Political Development Of Capital Punishment In The Modern Moroccan State, Mia Barr

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The modern Moroccan state seen today is very young. Having only been independent from France since 1956, the country has spent the last sixty-four years crafting its post-colonial statehood. What has emerged is a hybrid political system with powers split, however unequally, between the King and his inner circle, known as the makhzen, and the Parliament. Not only is the monarchy constitutional—meaning that its legitimacy is literally written into the primary governing document of Morocco, which had its last referendum in 2011—but it is also self-sustaining and self-legitimizing, for the monarchy uses its constitutional powers to grant itself further powers …

Backlash To The European Court Of Human Rights: The Case Of Russia, Cole Kovarik, Courtney Hillebrecht

UCARE Research Products

Since the end of World War II, the international community has forged human rights accountability systems that have since become increasingly important. The good work done by these international tribunals has come under threat more and more by a process of backlash called tribunal capture, or “the politics of states and individual political leaders seeking to undermine the tribunals by working within the judicialized and legalized landscape of international human rights law” (Hillebrecht). The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is no exception; since its foundation, it has been largely utilized. However, lack of compliance with its rulings remains to …

The Proof Is In The Process: Self-Reporting Under International Human Rights Treaties, Cosette D. Creamer, Beth A. Simmons

All Faculty Scholarship

Recent research has shown that state reporting to human rights monitoring bodies is associated with improvements in rights practices, calling into question earlier claims that self-reporting is inconsequential. Yet little work has been done to explore the theoretical mechanisms that plausibly account for this association. This Article systematically documents—across treaties, countries, and years—four mechanisms through which reporting can contribute to human rights improvements: elite socialization, learning and capacity building, domestic mobilization, and law development. These mechanisms have implications for the future of human rights treaty monitoring.

Popular Versus Elite Democracies And Human Rights: Inclusion Makes A Difference, Devin K. Joshi, J. S. Maloy, Timothy M. Peterson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Scholarly research generally finds that democratic governments are more likely to respect human rights than other types of regimes. Different human rights practices among long-standing and affluent democracies therefore present a puzzle. Drawing from democratic theory and comparative institutional studies, we argue more inclusive or "popular" democracies should enforce human rights better than more exclusive or "elite" democracies, even in the face of security threats from armed conflict. Instead of relying on the Freedom House or Polity indexes to distinguish levels of democracy, we adopt a more focused approach to measuring structures of inclusion, the Institutional Democracy Index (IDI), which …

Book Review: Not Enough: Human Rights In An Unequal World, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

Review of the book Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World. By Samuel Moyn. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press 2018. Pp. ix, 220. Index.

Borders Rules, Beth A. Simmons

All Faculty Scholarship

International political borders have historically performed one overriding function: the delimitation of a state’s territorial jurisdiction, but today they are sites of intense security scrutiny and law enforcement. Traditionally they were created to secure peace through territorial independence of political units. Today borders face new pressures from heightened human mobility, economic interdependence (legal and illicit), and perceived challenges from a host of nonstate threats. Research has only begun to reveal what some of these changes mean for the governance of interstate borders. The problems surrounding international borders today go well-beyond traditional delineation and delimitation. These problems call for active forms …

Trump, Saudi Arabia And The Khashoggi Case: What Would Obama Have Done?, Steven Feldstein

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

After weeks of ratcheting tension about who authorized the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump sought to put an end to the debate.

Speech Excerpts: Democracy And Human Rights

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Excerpt from speeches given by Bill Clinton on democracy and human rights worldwide. No date given.

Nunca Más: Rhetoric Of Human Rights And Democracy In Post-Authoritarian Argentina, Sarah R. Coleman

Political Science Honors Projects

In 1983, Argentina began its process of transitioning to democracy and away from a repressive military dictatorship that had ruled the nation for the past 7 years. With this democratic transition came the process of transition justice aimed at confronting and rectifying the human rights violations committed under the authoritarian regime. Out of this transitional period arose many questions: How do principles of democracy and human rights overlap? How does one define concepts such as justice, truth, and rights? What responsibility does democracy have to upholding human rights? And most importantly, how does a transitional regime institute long-lasting norms regarding …

Media Coverage Of Human Rights In The Us And Uk: The Violations Still Won’T Be Televised (Or Published), Shawna M. Brandle

Publications and Research

This article analyzes American television and American and British print news coverage of human rights using a combination of manual and machine coding. The data reveal that television and print news cover very few human rights stories, that these stories are mostly international and not domestic, that even when human rights are covered, they are not covered in detail, and that human rights issues are more likely to be covered when they are not framed as human rights. This suggests that human rights is simply not a frame that journalists employ, and provides support for government-leading-media theories of newsworthiness.

Community Land Trusts: A Help Or Hindrance To Community Development In The United States, Andrew Kuka

Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development—Student Research

The availability of affordable housing in the United States continues to be an issue for Americans who are on the brink of homelessness, rely on housing subsidies, or struggle to pay their mortgages or rents. These issues, as well as the gentrification threat that community development poses to low-income residents can have deleterious effects on democratic participation and community development efforts. One proposed solution to these problems is the implementation of more community land trust programs nationally. This paper will assess the practicality of CLTs, and what such an implementation would mean for individuals, government entities, community members, and community …

Administrative Narratives, Human Rights, And Public Ethics: The Detroit Water-Shutoff Case, Richard K. Ghere

Political Science Faculty Publications

This inquiry focuses specifically on administrative (local official) narratives that speak to contentious issue contexts of social conflict. Specifically, it draws upon a theoretical connection between hermeneutics and the sociology of knowledge to interpret narrative passages of local officials and others related to a contentious public action—the Detroit Water and Sewerage District’s stepped-up water-discontinuation efforts (2014 and 2015) that left thousands of inner-city residents with “delinquent” accounts and no access to water service. Selected narratives from this case are interpreted on the basis of their literary and social functions. The interpretations support a subsequent determination of whether and how the …

The Challenge Of Adopting Sexual Orientation Resolutions At The Un Human Rights Council, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since the mid-1990s, UN special procedures reports have increasingly addressed human rights violations related to sexual orientation. However, it was not until 2011 that the first UN resolution on human rights and sexual orientation was adopted. After considerable difficulty, a follow-up resolution was adopted in late 2014. This policy and practice note examines the challenges of adopting sexual orientation resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council. The discussion is organized around six challenges: the need for Southern leadership, the strong counter-reaction that sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) issues generate at the UN, finding a strong leader, divisions within civil …