title: Improving governance at the United Nations level.
abstract: Under the doctrine of 'Responsibility to Protect' the United Nations is steadily moving towards a position of being prepared to intervene militarily against states that are committing gross human rights abuses. Before the UN takes such a step, it should have in place statutory instruments to identify and bring non-violent persuasion to bear on the regimes that run these states. The Index of Governance is a phased proposal that will measure and influence the behaviour of these regimes. In Phase 1 it will use a derivative of the Observer Index of Human Rights to 'name and shame' governments that are oppressive. As the Index is a product of an objective data collection exercise, it will avoid the politically motivated bias and double standards that too often obtain when judgements are made of governmental performance. In Phase 2, after a legal process, governments that rank lowest on the Index will be subjected to a graduated array of penalties including 'Smart Sanctions' targeted on the ruling elite.
authors.affiliation: The Old School House, Congresbury, Somerset. rlawson@gn.apc.org
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lawson
mesh_terms: D045809:Human Rights Abuses / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D014480:United Nations / Q000458:organization & administration*