Publicação
Democratic backsliding and the role of international courts: An analysis of key cases before the inter-american court of human rights
| Resumo: | Roughly fifteen years have passed since Larry Diamond published an article, warning the public about early signs of a democratic recession. Diamond’s assessment motivated the academic community to explore what was causing this retreat from democracy. One suspect is democratic backsliding, or a gradual force that erodes democracy from within its institutions to the point where the governing regime can no longer be defined as a democracy. This has become the preferred method of democratic reversion in the 21st century as opposed to coups or violent revolutions in the 20th century. Consequently, it has prompted further study into what can be done to prevent or halt democratic backsliding. This thesis will explore one method of prevention that has mainly been ignored in this field, the role of international courts. By establishing a framework where the national judiciary is one of the strongest tools used against democratic backsliding, the paper explores how an international court can assist in strengthening the judiciary, in turn, protecting the country against backsliding. Using the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as the subject with Venezuela and Ecuador as case studies, the following will explore what role international courts have in the prevention of democratic backsliding. The results of this investigation demonstrate that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights lacks a strong, enforcement component to ensure compliance, but its role in the prevention of democratic backsliding is rooted in its ability to guide states on how to strengthen their democracies. |
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| Autores principais: | Adam Joseph Sabo |
| Assunto: | human rights Democracy Democratic Backsliding Inter-American Court of Human Right Latin America Democracia Retrocesso Democrático Direitos humanos Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos América latina |
| Ano: | 2024 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| Resumo: | Roughly fifteen years have passed since Larry Diamond published an article, warning the public about early signs of a democratic recession. Diamond’s assessment motivated the academic community to explore what was causing this retreat from democracy. One suspect is democratic backsliding, or a gradual force that erodes democracy from within its institutions to the point where the governing regime can no longer be defined as a democracy. This has become the preferred method of democratic reversion in the 21st century as opposed to coups or violent revolutions in the 20th century. Consequently, it has prompted further study into what can be done to prevent or halt democratic backsliding. This thesis will explore one method of prevention that has mainly been ignored in this field, the role of international courts. By establishing a framework where the national judiciary is one of the strongest tools used against democratic backsliding, the paper explores how an international court can assist in strengthening the judiciary, in turn, protecting the country against backsliding. Using the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as the subject with Venezuela and Ecuador as case studies, the following will explore what role international courts have in the prevention of democratic backsliding. The results of this investigation demonstrate that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights lacks a strong, enforcement component to ensure compliance, but its role in the prevention of democratic backsliding is rooted in its ability to guide states on how to strengthen their democracies. |
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