Human Rights Quiz

Why is political repression the backbone of authoritarian regimes?

It stops direct challenges to social, cultural, and political power. It sustains their power, from inside challenges.

What are the two challenges to authoritarian rule?

Power sharing and power control. Power sharing is when the regime in power gives some positions to the opposition party, so that they share power horizontally, in order to stop inside challenges from other elites. Power control is when authoritarian powers and the general public conflict; the rulers employ the police/military to suppress them. This is a vertical, top-down situation. 

What is political repression?

Political repression involves using violence and restriction to control the public and political opponents. Violence ensures that key elements of the public are eliminated, and it’s also employed against the entire public. The goal is to reinforce fear and break the will of dissenters. In cases of state maltreatment or terrorism against civilians, the government sends the military to kill civilians (for example, the Rohingya in Myanmar have been targeted and killed by the military/cops). The government will violently repress any actions that raise collective action (for example, switching off social media) to break peoples’ consciousness. Keeping people in individual moulds will prevent them from organizing. Governments often use physical sanctions against an individual or an organization; they may increase taxes, evict people from areas with resources, and destroy education systems. 

Who are the executors of political repression?

The executive, the police, the military, secret services, the national guards, the judiciary, death squads, etc. Their purpose is to suppress existing or potential civilian political participation; they suffocate efforts for social, political, economic, and cultural changes, and deliberately violate human rights with impunity. This can be done because the person in control controls everyone who is meant to hold them accountable.

What are the three dimensions of political repression according to Earl?

1 - the identity of the repressive agent; is it state or private actors? When they use private actors, the state cannot be called into account. For example, the US has used private actors in Iraq to prevent the government from being held accountable for human rights abuses.

2 - the character of the repressive action. Are they using violence, cooption (pulling the leader from the opposing party to the authoritarian government’s party; leaves the opposition directionless), and/or bribery?

3 - Whether the repression is observable by a third party or done in private. If the latter, it’s harder to hold governments to account.

What are the two main forms of political repression?

1 - Restriction. This involves restricting people’s civil rights through censorship, preventing people from voting (ie keeping Black or Indigenous people from voting), etc., with the goal of modifying peoples’ behaviour through constraining opportunities and freedom.

2 - Violence. This involves personal integrity abuses. Killing, disappearances, torture, etc. It modifies behaviour through eliminating the actors of oppression. 

What are common forms of political repression?

Genocide - for ex., the Bosnian genocide.

Summary executions.

Digital technology - for ex., use of Pegasus.

Forced sterilization - for ex., forced sterilization of Indigenous people in Canada.

Involuntary settlement - for ex., Uyghurs taken from their families and put in concentration camps in China. 

Citizens being stripped of their citizenship. 

Forced disappearance - for ex., Uyghur people in China.

Forced labour - for ex., Uyghur people in China.

Torture

Mass arrests

Kidnapping

Arbitrary detention.

Censorship

AI

Accusation of terrorism or treason. The state has the power to name its political opponents as terrorists. Ex - Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist in the West for opposing apartheid, and wasn’t allowed to enter the US until 2008.

Illiteracy - Not allowing people to access education.

What are the three generations of human rights?

1 - civil and political rights. These rights protect the individual; they include the right to life, equality before the law, freedom of speech, right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, property rights, and the right to political participation.

2 - socio-economic and cultural rights. The right to work, freedom of association, the right to education and learning, the right to insurance if you get sick, or for old age and disability, and economic rights like the fulfillment of basic needs, fair wages, and humane living. These rights are meant to establish equal conditions.

3 - solidarity rights (exerted collectively). The right to self-determination, the right to peace, to a healthy environment, to development, the rights of sexual, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and ethnic minorities, and women and childrens’ rights.

What undermines authoritarian rule?

The lack of an independent authority that has the power to settle disputes, and credible threats of violence and mass protests. 

What is the dictator’s dilemma?

Dictators can’t refrain from exploiting their followers, but the followers are also exploiting the dictator for political power.

What is the punishment puzzle?

The problem that there will always be people who question or object to a dictator and there will always be conflict over state institutions. There is a connection between dissent and oppression; the more opposition from the public, the more repression, but the more repression there is, the more opposition there will be.

What are the conditions for political repression?

National conditions: opportunity (the environment in the state is conducive to repression) and willingness (the state is willing to repress the population, possibly because of fear that the opposition is becoming strong).

International conditions: the regime’s fear of external threats (poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer & double agent for UK intelligence agency), and competition for global dominance.

Why are democratic states better than authoritarian ones?

Democratic states are better because they have constitutional processes of power transfers, effective institutions, the separation of power, and checks and balances. There are established norms in a democracy that condition how the state is ruled. The norms are binding to all citizens (question of who is a citizen). Democracies also emphasize cooperation, because actors make collective decisions, and a competitive process. The element of majority rule, from representatives of the people, is also important.

What procedures and principles make democracy possible?

Procedures: the criteria of who controls what policy is vested in the constitution, someone can’t just come to power and overnight change the system; frequent, free, and fair elections; citizens have the right to express themselves; citizens have the right to seek alternative sources of information; elected officials are meant to exercise their power without coercion; and every state must be self-governing. 

Principles: respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; freedom of participation and association; majority rule, party rule, and freedom of expression and opinion; the access to and exercise of power accords with the law; free and fair elections; separation of powers; checks and balances; and a free, independent state.

What are some threats to democracy?

Disinformation/misinformation. Goal is to influence public opinion, undermine the credibility of authorities, sow despair, and bring radical forces into power. Example: Russia spread misinformation during 2016 election in favour of Trump. 

Crashing press freedom. Example: Russia has its own media channels. 

Undermining rule of law. Ex: weakening judicial independence (Trump arresting judges in US).

Vote rigging or claims of vote-rigging. Ex: claims that the 2020 election was stolen. 

Discrimination and mistreatment of immigrants.

Increasing anti-democratic alliances. 

Extremism. 

Disengagement/lack of engagement in democratic process.

Wealth inequality: poor people lack the time to participate in politics because they’re struggling to survive, and billionaires are funding politicians. 

Ethnocentrism. 

Globalization. 

Colonialism. 

What is rational actor theory?

Assumes that if someone is put into leadership, they are rational. Divided into realists, neorealism, and rational functionalism. Realists assume that things are real as we see them; that political leaders are rational, ethical, and moral. Assumes that states will behave on the basis of self-interest, and that they are unitary, rational actors. It emphasizes the dominance of state power and sovereignty over weak and decentralized international systems. Neorealism assumes that political leaders are rational and will do what is good for the common good. Rational functionalism suggests that the state is functional based on reason; that they have to create domestic institutions that are democratic so that peace and security are maintained. It suggests that international human rights instruments provide avenues for states to respect their citizens and cooperate in solving problems that they can’t unilaterally address. All three emphasize an independent judiciary.

What is the approach to political repression that emphasizes international norms and socialization?

This approach suggests that we have international norms that states have signed, so those states will treat their citizens justly. There is an emphasis on transnational advocacy networks, which try to call governments to account and classify states as good or bad if they observe these treaties. There is also an emphasis on the world society approach, which suggests that people come together and are fighting for the same cause, respecting human rights.

What is the liberal economic theory approach to political repression?

This approach designs laws and policies in the interest of businesses, not people. It emphasizes free markets, and suggests that liberal trade policies facilitate economic development and contribute to improving social and political conditions, because they lead to the emergence of a middle class that demands respect for human rights from the government.