The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change

Front Cover
Thomas Risse, Stephen C. Ropp, Kathryn Sikkink
Cambridge University Press, Aug 5, 1999 - Political Science - 318 pages
This book celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by showing how global human rights norms have influenced national government practices in eleven different countries around the world. Had the principles articulated in the Declaration had any effect on the behavior of states towards their citizens? What are the conditions under which international human rights norms are internalized in domestic practices? And what can we learn from this case about why, how, and under what conditions international norms in general influence the actions of states? This book draws on the work of social constructivists to examine these important issues. The contributors examine eleven countries representing five different world regions - Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe - drawing practical lessons for activists and policy makers concerned with preserving and extending the human rights gains made during the past fifty years.

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Contents

The socialization of international human rights norms into domestic practices introduction
1
Transnational activism and political change in Kenya and Uganda
39
The long and winding road international norms and domestic political change in South Africa David Black
78
Changing discourse transnational advocacy networks in Tunisia and Morocco
109
Linking the unlinkable? International norms and nationalism in Indonesia and the Philippines
134
International norms and domestic politics in Chile and Guatemala
172
The Helsinki accords and political change in Eastern Europe
205
International human rights norms and domestic change conclusions
234
List of references
279
Index
311
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