Human Rights, Comparative Perspectives

Methodological Considerations

Broadly speaking, comparative analysis variously includes large-N statistical analysis of many [Page 1105]countries over time and space, small-N qualitative or quantitative analysis of most similar or most different countries, or single-country studies of human rights developments at the national or subnational level. Such comparisons have struggled to overcome significant ontological, epistemological, and methodological challenges in order to provide valid, meaningful, and reliable inferences in this burgeoning subfield of research. But there is now, however, a distinct subfield and strong community of researchers specifically dedicated to the application of the theories and methods in social science to significant human rights problems and puzzles that includes systematic comparative analysis. The American Political Science Association (APSA), the International Political Science Association (IPSA), and the International Studies Association (ISA) have all established specialized human rights sections. The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) hosted a joint workshop, The Systematic Study of Human Rights Violations, organized by Steve Poe and Sabine Carey in 2002; the Journal of Peace Research published a special issue dedicated to political science analysis of protecting human rights, while other mainstream journals in comparative politics and international relations have increasingly published empirical studies on human rights that adopt a comparative framework of some kind.

Comparative studies have tended to sidestep normative concerns over foundations for human rights and have adopted a pragmatic approach that seeks to conduct systematic research on the conditions under which such protections are (or are not) made possible. Such a focus can help us understand how best to prevent human beings from doing their worst to one another, as well as how to overcome some of the structural barriers to achieving greater human dignity for a larger cross section of humankind. Comparative analysis of human rights is thus essential for explaining and understanding the conditions under which human beings forge their existence, assert their dignity, and seek protections for their different identities, for the pursuit of self-determination, and for the exercise of agency and autonomy. Like the study of markets, social classes, and democracy, the study of human rights reveals much about human nature and the ways in which structure and agency interact to create extraordinarily different life experiences across the globe and provides valuable insights into the types of real protections that need to be in place.

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