title: Human rights as myth and ceremony? Reevaluating the effectiveness of human rights treaties, 1981-2007.
abstract: Much research has shown human rights treaties to be ineffective or even counterproductive, often contributing to greater levels of abuse among countries that ratify them. This article reevaluates the effect of four core human rights treaties on a variety of human rights outcomes. Unlike previous studies, it disaggregates treaty membership to examine the effect of relatively "stronger" and "weaker" commitments. Two-stage regression analyses that control for the endogeneity of treaty membership show that stronger commitments in the form of optional provisions that allow states and individuals to complain about human rights abuses are often associated with improved practices. The article discusses the scholarly and practical implications of these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Utah, 380 South 1530 East, Room 301, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA. wade.cole@soc.utah.edu
authors.forename: Wade M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Cole
mesh_terms: D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008913:Minority Groups; D011057:Politics; D011287:Prejudice; D012067:Religion; D014933:Women's Rights