How do international institutions influence human rights compliance?
This article examines two key United Nations mechanisms: the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and treaty bodies' state reporting. By analyzing their perceived effectiveness in driving implementation, we find contrasting strengths.
Pressure & Peer Review:
- The UPR excels at generating peer pressure through multilateral scrutiny.
- It leverages public attention as a powerful compliance catalyst.
Learning & Assessment:
- Treaty bodies provide crucial insights for state capacity building.
- They deliver practical recommendations tailored to specific national contexts.
- Offering accurate performance overviews helps states manage their obligations effectively.
The study reveals these mechanisms operate through different pathways. From a theoretical perspective, it demonstrates how the enforcement model provides particularly strong explanatory power compared to management or constructivist approaches for understanding compliance patterns. Data were gathered from forty semi-structured interviews and an online survey.
