Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T00:46:26.698Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Populist Threats to the International Human Rights System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2020

By
Gerald L. Neuman
Edited by
Gerald L. Neuman
Gerald L. Neuman
Affiliation:
Harvard Law School, Massachusetts
Get access

Summary

This chapter frames the discussion that follows by examining the concept of populism, which is debated among political scientists, and the negative effects that populism may produce on internationally recognized human rights. The chapter emphasizes an understanding of populism as a form of politics that employs an exclusionary notion of the people as opposed to disfavored groups that are unworthy and that purports to rule on behalf of the people, whose will should not be constrained. The chapter describes both internal and external effects of populists' rise to power. Domestically, populist governance threatens the human rights of the excluded group, but also poses danger for members of the majority, as leaders seek to entrench themselves in power and undermine checks. Externally, the influence of populism on foreign policy reduces support for the international human rights regime, in a manner that has become increasingly problematic as populists gain power in more countries that previously played key roles in maintaining it.

Keywords

Populismhuman rightsDonald TrumpBrexitEuropean Unioninternational human rights regimeanti-pluralismideational populism
Type
Chapter
Information
Human Rights in a Time of Populism
Challenges and Responses
 , pp. 1 - 19
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balfour, Rosa, Emmanouilidis, Janis A., Fieschi, Catherine, Grabbe, Heather, Hill, Christopher, Lochocki, Timo, Mendras, Marie, Mudde, Cas, Niemi, Mari K., Schmidt, Juliane, and Stratulat, Corina. “Europe’s Troublemakers: The Populist Challenge to Foreign Policy.” European Policy Center, 2016. Available at www.epc.eu/documents/uploads/pub_6377_europe_s_troublemakers.pdf?doc_id=1714.Google Scholar
Broecker, Christen, and O’Flaherty, Michael. “The Outcome of the General Assembly’s Treaty Body Strengthening Process: An Important Milestone on a Longer Journey.” Universal Rights Group, 2014. Available at www.universal‑rights.org/urg‑policy‑reports/the‑outcome‑of‑the‑general‑assemblys‑treaty‑body‑strengthening‑process‑an‑important‑milestone‑on‑a‑longer‑journey/.Google Scholar
Cetra, Raísa, and Nascimento, Jefferson. “Counting Coins: Funding the Inter-American Human Rights System.” In The Inter-American Human Rights System: Changing Times Ongoing Challenges, edited by Maia, Camila Barretto et al., 53–94. Washington, DC: Due Process of Law Foundation, 2016.Google Scholar
Cohen, Roger. “It’s Time to Depopularize ‘Populist’.” New York Times, July 14, 2018, p. A20.Google Scholar
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Public Debt, Austerity Measures and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UN Doc. E/C.12/2016/1 (2016).Google Scholar
Corrales, Javier, and Romero, Carlos A.. U.S.–Venezuela Relations Since the 1990s: Coping with Midlevel Security Threats. New York: Routledge, 2013.Google Scholar
Cusack, Asa K. Venezuela, ALBA, and the Limits of Postneoliberal Regionalism in Latin America and the Caribbean. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.Google Scholar
de la Torre, Carlos. “What Went Wrong? Leftwing Populist Democratic Promises and Autocratic Practices.” Comparative Politics Newsletter 26, no. 2 (2016): 40–45.Google Scholar
de la Torre, Carlos. “Populism in Latin America.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 195–213. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
de la Torre, Carlos. “Ecuador after Correa.” Journal of Democracy 29, no. 4 (October 2018): 77–88.Google Scholar
de la Torre, Carlos. “Ecuador Leaves Venezuela-Run Regional Alliance.” Associated Press, August 23, 2018. www.apnews.com/6a7d8ed8738a475d8b6c276ffa0b761e.Google Scholar
Egan, Annabel, and Pech, Laurent. “Respect for Human Rights as a General Objective of the EU’s External Action.” In Research Handbook on EU Law and Human Rights, edited by Douglas-Scott, Sionaidh and Hatzis, Nicholas, 243–266. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2017.Google Scholar
[European Union]. EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2017 (2018). Available at http://eeas.europea.eu/topics/human-rights-democracy/8437/eu-annual-reports-human-rights-and-democratisation_en.Google Scholar
Gidron, Noam, and Hall, Peter A.. “The Politics of Social Status: Economic and Cultural Roots of the Populist Right.” British Journal of Sociology 68, no. S1 (November 2017): S57–S84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenwood, Max. “Miller and Bannon Wrote Trump Inaugural Address.” The Hill, January 21, 2017, http://thehill.com.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Kirk A., Read, Madeleine, and Pauwels, Teun. “Populism and Its Causes.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 267–286. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Horowitz, Jason. “Bannon Takes on Europe, with Populist Toolbox in Hand.” New York Times, March 10, 2018, at A5.Google Scholar
Jones, Alexei, Di Ciommo, Mariella, Monrás, Meritxell Sayós, Sherriff, Andrew, and Bossuyt, Jean. Aiming High or Falling Short? A Brief Analysis of the Proposed Future EU Budget for External Action. European Centre for Development Policy Management Briefing Note no. 104 (2018). https://ecdpm.org/wp‑content/uploads/ECDPM‑2018‑BN‑104‑Analysis‑Proposed‑Future‑EU‑Budget‑External‑Action.pdf.Google Scholar
Jovanovska, Maja, Badoky, Tamas, and Belford, Aubrey. “Right-Wing Hungarian Media Moves into the Balkans” (2018). Available at www.occrp.org/en/spooksandspin/right‑wing‑hungarian‑media‑moves‑into‑the‑balkans.Google Scholar
Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre. “Populism: An Overview of the Concept and the State of the Art.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 1–24. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingsley, Patrick. “Did Hungary Help Spring a Fugitive Macedonian Leader?” New York Times, December 30, 2018, at A8.Google Scholar
Krekó, Péter, and Enyedi, Zsolt, “Orbán’s Laboratory of Illiberalism.” Journal of Democracy 29, no. 3 (2018): 39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laclau, Ernesto. On Populist Reason. London: Verso, 2005.Google Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Loxton, James. “Populism and Competitive Authoritarianism in the Andes.” Democratization 20, no. 1 (2013): 107–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitzky, Steven, and Ziblatt, Daniel. How Democracies Die. New York: Crown, 2018.Google Scholar
Lock, Tobias, and Daly, Tom Gerald, eds., “Brexit and the British Bill of Rights” (2016). Available at https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3006605/1/Brexit%20and%20Human%20Rights.pdf.Google Scholar
Magarian, Gregory P. “The Pragmatic Populism of Justice Stevens’s Free Speech Jurisprudence.” Fordham Law Review 74, no. 4 (2006): 2201–2240.Google Scholar
Mair, Peter. “Populist Democracy vs Party Democracy.” In Democracies and the Populist Challenge, edited by Mény, Yves and Surel, Yves, 81–98. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, Luke. “Populism in the Post-Soviet States.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 214–231. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Mietzner, Marcus. “Movement Leaders, Oligarchs, Technocrats and Autocratic Mavericks: Populists in Contemporary Asia.” In Routledge Handbook of Global Populism, edited by de la Torre, Carlos, 370–384. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.Google Scholar
Mouffe, Chantal. For a Left Populism. London: Verso, 2018.Google Scholar
Mudde, Cas. “Populism: An Ideational Approach.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 27–47. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Mudde, Cas, and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira. “Exclusionary vs. Inclusionary Populism: Comparing Contemporary Europe and Latin America.” Government and Opposition 48, no. 2 (2013): 147–174.Google Scholar
Müller, Jan-Werner. What Is Populism? Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, C.R.G. “Monstering Strasbourg over Prisoner Voting Rights.” In Human Rights in the Media: Fear and Fetish, edited by Farrell, Michelle, Drywood, Eleanor, and Hughes, Edel, 101–126. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Inglehart, Ronald. Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court. Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2018 (2018), 15.Google Scholar
Perez, Antonio F. “Democracy Clauses in the Americas: The Challenge of Venezuela’s Withdrawal from the OAS.” American University International Law Review 33, no. 2 (2017): 391–476.Google Scholar
Perina, Rubén M. The Organization of American States as the Advocate and Guardian of Democracy: An Insider’s Critical Assessment of its Role in Promoting and Defending Democracy. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2015.Google Scholar
Perry, Elizabeth J. “The Populist Dream of Chinese Democracy.” Journal of Asian Studies 74, no. 4 (2015): 903–915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinto, Mónica. “The Crisis of the Inter-American System.” American Society of International Law Proceedings 107 (2013): 127–129.Google Scholar
Pompeo, Mike, and Haley, Nikki. “Remarks on the UN Human Rights Council.” Last modified June 19, 2018. https://geneva.usmission.gov/2018/06/21/remarks-on-the-un-human-rights-council/.Google Scholar
Roberts, Kenneth M. “Populism as Epithet and Identity: The Use and Misuse of a Contested Concept.” Comparative Politics Newsletter 26, no. 2 (2016): 69–72.Google Scholar
Sachs, Jeffrey D. Social Conflict and Populist Policies in Latin America. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 2897, 1989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salazar, Katya, “Between Reality and Appearances.” Aportes DPLf 19 (April 2014): 16–19.Google Scholar
Savage, Charlie, Goldman, Adam, and Sullivan, Elaine. “Britain Arrests Assange, Ending 7-Year Standoff.” New York Times, April 12, 2019.Google Scholar
Schwirtz, Michael, and Gladstone, Rick. “U.S. Vetoes U.N. Resolution Condemning Move on Jerusalem.” New York Times, December 19, 2017.Google Scholar
Shekhovtsov, Anton. Russia and the Western Far Right: Tango Noir. Abingdon: Routledge 2018.Google Scholar
Soley, Ximena, and Steininger, Silvia. “Parting Ways or Lashing Back? Withdrawals, Backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.” International Journal of Law in Context 14, no. 2 (2018): 237–257.Google Scholar
Stavrakakis, Yannis. “Populism and Hegemony.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 535–553. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. Taking the Constitution Away from the Courts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Union of Concerned Scientists. “Science under Trump: Voices of Scientists across 16 Federal Agencies.” August 2018. www.ucsusa.org/2018survey.Google Scholar
[UN High Commissioner for Human Rights]. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. UN Doc. E/2013/82 (2013).Google Scholar
Urbinati, Nadia. Democracy Disfigured: Opinion, Truth and the People. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Department of State, “Remarks to U.S. Department of State Employees,” 2017. www.state.gov/remarks-to-u-s-department-of-state-employees/.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State. “Remarks by Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State and Nikki Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations,” 2018. https://geneva.usmission.gov/2018/06/21/remarks‑on‑the‑un‑human‑rights‑council/.Google Scholar
U.S. White House, “The Inaugural Address,” 2017. www.whitehouse.gov/briefings‑statements/the‑inaugural‑address/.Google Scholar
U.S. White House. “Remarks by President Trump to the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, NY,” 2018. www.whitehouse.gov/briefings‑statements/remarks‑president‑trump‑73rd‑session‑united‑nations‑general‑assembly‑new‑york‑ny/.Google Scholar
Verbeek, Bertjan, and Zaslove, Andrej. “Populism and Foreign Policy.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 384–405. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Weyland, Kurt. “Populism: A Political-Strategic Approach.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, edited by Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira, Taggart, Paul, Espejo, Paulina Ochoa, and Ostiguy, Pierre, 48–72. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×