Ackerly
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8/28/2003
“For politics and political institutions to promote human development and safeguard the freedom and
dignity of all people, democracy must widen and deepen” (UNDP 2002).
And, f
or democracy to widen and deepen, political institutions must promote human
development and safeguard the freedom and dignity of all people.
I. Introduction
Although democracy and human rights are often linked in political discourse, the
theoretical relationship between democracy and human rights is at best loose in most
accounts. Some democratic theorists have considered rights as essential to democracy, but
their theories of rights are underdeveloped.
1
Most human rights theorists recognize the
importance of democracy for realizing human rights (even formulate democratic institutions
such as political participation as human rights), but democracy is undertheorized in their
accounts of human rights.
2
This is not to disparage this range of work. There are good intellectual reasons why,
despite centuries of literature on both democracy and rights, few works integrate these.
3
One
is that one could write a whole book on either topic. Another reason is that they are both
contested concepts, but contested differently. Democracy is most generally theorized as a
concept for states and bounded by states;
4
human rights is most generally theorized as a
concept that defies state boarders and in fact that is useful in telling states when to do so.
5
Despite good reasons for undertheorization, these undertheorized concepts of
democracy and human rights impair studies of the empirical relationship between democracy
and human rights.
6
Undertheorization leads to difficulty in specifying and measuring the
significant variables. (For example, voter turnout can be a measure of either democratization
or human rights.) Both theorists and empiricists need a better theory of democracy and
human rights and the relationship between them. Hence, our panel: Integrating Democracy and
Human Rights.
While not attempting to do in an article what needs to be done in a book, I am going to
suggest how an argument in such a book might proceed. The principle insight (which I may
be making too much of) is that, when grounded in people’s experience of democratization
and of human rights practices and violations, theories of democracy and human rights are
part of a common critical theory project. There may be a range of accounts of democracy
and human rights which would fit together and be worthy of being described as grounded in
1
Gould (1993). Shapiro (2003) refers to “basic interests” and treats them as Shue rights (1996).
2
Eg. Ignatieff 2001.
3
For an exception see Mary Wollstonecraft ([1792] 2001) who offers us an account of democracy and rights as
integrated.
4
This is true of study of democratization and democratic institutions, including elected representative government
accountable to the citizens, competition and cooperation among representatives, a free press, mechanisms for
accountability, a rigorous and independent judicial system, and a pluralist civil society (Schmitter & Karl 1991; Putnam
1993; et al). It is also true of most democratic theory (which as will not list so as to avoid being exclusive. See
exceptions Bohman 2002; Linklater 1998, 1999; Held 1995; Laslett 2003; Beetham 1998).
5
For a very helpful distinction between human rights theory and the use of human rights to guide interventionist
foreign policy see Bietz 2001.
6
For example see Park 1987; McKinlay & Cohan 1975, 1976; Boswell & Dixon 1990; Davenport 1995, 1996a, 1997,
1999; Meyer 1996; Blanton 1994; Cingranelli & Pasquarello 1985; Carleton & Stohl 1985, 1987; Hofrenning 1990;
Poe & Sirirangsi 1994; Gibney, Dalton & Vockell 1992; Adeola 2001; Haas 1996; Apodaca 1998, 2000; Arat 1991,
1999.
Convention