Human Rights Quarterly

Langlois, Anthony J., 1970-
Human Rights without Democracy? A Critique of the Separationist Thesis
Human Rights Quarterly - Volume 25, Number 4, November 2003, pp. 990-1019

The Johns Hopkins University Press

The internationalization of democracy and human rights since World War II is an achievement of great proportions and significance. However, while human rights are regularly seen as universally applicable, not all see democracy as the most appropriate form of government for all peoples. Some proponents of human rights have therefore come to the conclusion that insisting on a link between human rights and democracy will be harmful for the further acceptance of human rights within the international society. They claim that human rights and democratization should be separated. The author calls this claim the separationist thesis and examines this thesis and the various grounds which may be presented in its favor, before mounting a series of critical arguments against it. He concludes that human rights without democracy are standards or norms, but not rights as such.