Final Exam INR 2002 4 7 14 04 27 2014 Chapter 11 International Law and Norms Puzzle In a world with no police why would countries agree to follow international rules and norms Example Why have some countries agreed to give up landmines while other have not 160 have signed this treaty and 36 have not The U S has not signed it What is International Law Rules that bind states and other actors in world politics Two main ways that international law develops Customary International law Develops slowly and over time as countries start to recognize that certain practices are appropriate Ex International law of the sea general law is that a country has control of their own waters up to a certain point It s a custom international law took a while to get written down Treaties negotiated and ratified They are written down Once they are ratified they have the force of domestic law Is all international law the same Varies in degree of Obligation Precision Clear exact explanation Delegation the degree to which third parties are given the authority to implement and interpret international law Does International law matter Countries comply with law most of the time International law reflects their interests Countries don t go making laws that they think they are going to break And international law constrains behavior What are International Norms Standard of behavior for actors with a certain identity Norms of behavior that make up an individuals identity It is not a law you will not get arrested It isn t written down Countries are worried about their BFF S friendly countries getting mad Sometimes they are as strong as taboos Now Entrepreneurs Transnational Advocacy Networks TANs Aim to bring out political and social change Social mobilization getting people to like them on facebook pass out flyers Political pressure on governments They know that policy change has to come from the government alone Good TANs and Bad TANs Some sort of network trying to bring out political change is good but a bad one for example is a terrorist organization who are trying to bring about social and political change Norm Entrepreneurs Banning Landmines Jody Williams Professor in the U S got really involved in baning landmines that were killing civilians so she wanted to get the national treaty passed to ban them Princes Diana Spencer was also very involved by visiting victims of landmines making speeches and was eventually able to convince a number of people to form a treaty and get countries to sign it China United States Israel etc total of 36 have not signed the treaty Transnational Advocacy Networks TANs Non Governmental Organizations 1874 32 registered NGOs 2003 13 000 registered NGOs 25 of which founded after 1990 Do TANs make a difference Yes because the main way they try to make a difference is by changing mind and altering interests They put pressure on states to effect Boomerang effect Sometimes these TANs cannot change their own governments mind so they try to mobilize these international networks to try to get people to put pressure on their government and put pressure back into the home country Sometimes they go so far as to completely replace the functions of a state Like checking if people are working long enough and treated fairly something the government is supposed to take care of They facilitate international cooperation and monitor international agreements to be sure they are being upheld Countries have decided to ban whaling hunting whales as an international agreement but there s a number of countries in the world that do not agree with this ban like the Japanese This non governmental organization goes out into the sea and try to stop shipmen form hunting these whales as their job to enforce this law and agents of international law when in fact there is no international police to enforce it 4 9 14 Chapter 12 International Human Rights Puzzle Everyone agrees on the importance of human rights There are a number of international treaties that try to protect human rights Most countries sign on to these treaties Yet we cannot say that human rights practices have gotten better over the past few decades probably worse What are International Human Rights Rights that are possessed by all individuals by virtue of being a person regardless of their status are human rights United Nations Charter Article 55 first to point out that its up to governments to protect and regulate how they treat their citizens Governments have a responsibility that those rights are protected Human Rights Treaties Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 194 gives all human beings born free as being equal or deprived of nationality right to freedom of opinion and expression etc Authoritative standard of human rights International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights The idea is that These agreements would be more binding and that it would also be more specific on what human rights were ICCPR Supported by capitalist states mainly guaranteed freedom of religion discrimination on race sex or color restricts the death penalty and forbids it for people under 18 right to choose freely who to marry International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights ICESCR guarantees equal pay for equal work free primary education right to a minimal standard of living right to form trade unions U S has signed this treaty but has not been ratified Are these really universal human rights Weak consensus masks major variations in definition of rights Are some rights more important than others Some rights have broader support than other Nonderogable rights can never be violated declares that these rights should never ever be violated Ex cruel of degrading punishment recognition of person before the law freedom of thought conscious or religion Yes these rights are not automatically enforced more than other rights Why do states Violate Human Rights Incapacity government may not have adequate funding or abilities to provide security for its people National security or to suppress violent domestic political dissent Against individuals or groups feared to be allied with foreign power To secure the rule of government 4 11 14 Why do states promote international human rights To demonstrate a commitment to democracy and political liberalization o constrain the human rights practices of others For ex if another country doesn t control its labor a certain ways it could negatively effect other countries and therefore that
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