
Rhetoric and Reality
International Organizations, Sovereignty Costs, and Human Rights
Cambridge University Press
Will be published approx. on 30. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
75 pages
978-1-009-63814-2 (ISBN)
Description
The number of international human rights institutions and countries participating in them has risen dramatically in recent decades, precipitating debates about why countries make such commitments and whether these commitments improve member's human rights behavior. These debates have centered on a small number of human rights treaties, with far less attention paid to the larger number of international organizations (IOs) that aim to promote human rights. The Element argues and then demonstrates that state decisions about joining these IOs depends on the institutional design of the organizations, specifically sovereignty costs for member states. These costs stem from the constraints that IOs impose and vary substantially. Emerging democracies are most likely to enter high sovereignty cost IOs. Furthermore, organizations that generate higher sovereignty costs tend to produce better human rights outcomes than those generating fewer sovereignty costs for all regimes. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
ISBN-13
978-1-009-63814-2 (9781009638142)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Emilie M. Hafner-Burton | Edward D. Mansfield | Jon C. W. Pevehouse
Rhetoric and Reality
International Organizations, Sovereignty Costs, and Human Rights
Book
approx. 06/2026
Cambridge University Press
€68.50
Not yet published
Persons
Author
University of California, San Diego
University of Pennsylvania
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Content
1. Introduction; Part I. The Argument: 2. Membership in International Human Rights Organizations; 3. International Organizations and Sovereignty Costs; 4. Intergovernmental Organizations and Human Rights Behavior; Part II. The Evidence: 5. Data on Human Rights Sovereignty Costs; 6. Predicting Membership in International Human Rights Organizations; 7. The Effect of High Sovereignty Costs on Behavior; 8. Conclusion; Appendices; References.