What Do We Know about Human Rights?

The emergence of the international human rights regime following WWII and the unprecedented growth of the international human rights architecture in the decades to follow has produced standards that serve as the basis on which we can assess the protection of human rights across the globe. Despite the remarkable growth in international institutions designed to protect human rights, human rights datasets continue to display trends of persistent human rights abuses. What Do We Know About Human Rights interrogates those trends, assessing how and why human rights are repressed, and how they are preserved. This collection of essays authored by leaders in the field offers definitions and insights into the vast study of human rights, looking at human rights protections, mechanisms for intervention and mediation, and new challenges in human rights research. In the face of growing challenges to the liberal international order, this volume strengthens our understanding of the relationship between democracy and human rights.