Why Do Established Democracies Violate Human Rights?

Abstract

Received wisdom holds that democracies pay more respect to physical integrity rights than do non-democracies. Time and again, however, political realities belie this so-called domestic democratic peace. Even high-capacity democracies engage in torture, political imprisonment, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances. Using data on 29 countries between 1995 and 2007, this chapter studies triggers of and remedies to human rights abuses in democratic regimes. Departing from the well-known threat-repression nexus, it hypothesizes that democracies disrespect physical integrity in response to violent political threats, e.g., riots and terrorism. However, the degree to which democratic governments exploit such challenges for human rights abuses depends on the strength of the judiciary. In the presence of strong, autonomous courts, the chapter hypothesizes, governments are confined to lawful action. Consequently, as the strength of the judiciary increases, violent threats should become less conducive to physical integrity violations. While the analysis supports the provocative effect of riots and terrorism, it yields scant evidence that strong judiciaries pacify government action. In conclusion, established democracies fight fire with fire, and they turn out to be more than occasional sinners.