Whither the Commission on Human Rights: A Report After the 35th Session

The statement that the Commission on Human Rights functions as the focal point of the United Nation\u27s concentration on the international observance of human rights is fraught with definitional inconsistencies. Throughout its existence one of the main problems faced by the members of the Commission has been to agree upon the appropriate limits of the expression human rights. The question arises whether the term includes the right of a retired school teacher to speak out against his country\u27s employment practices or his entitlement to receive social security after his departure from the teaching force. If these are both considered to be human rights, then which should the Commission on Human Rights, with its limited time and monetary resources, emphasize? Does international observance connote merely an international forum for the discussion of human rights or an activist agency concerned with the enforcement of international standards? As the focal point is the Commission designed merely to serve as the nerve center for a multitude of United Nations human rights interests or should all UN human rights interests come under the actual supervision of the Commission

ORGANIZING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS: A SURVEY OF 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY TRENDS

This dissertation describes how the campaign role of the various entities which have combined to organize campaigns has changed since the early days of the Republic. From the short-run perspective of the leaders of these organizations, the party officials, candidates, labor leaders, etc., their role during campaigns--in 1830 or in 1980--was to attempt to win elections. This study, however, does not adopt their perspective. It deals with campaigning as a process of socializing citizens into the political system rather than as a determinant of electoral success. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, national elections and campaigns were embedded in state and local institutions. Indeed, one of the most important aspects of nineteenth century politics was its virtually total integration with community life. Not only did local political organizations display an incredibly high level of partisan activity, but ostensibly non-political agencies of the community, such as churches and saloons, also evidenced extraordinary degrees of partisanship. As the nineteenth century faded into the twentieth, partisanship and political organization were gradually isolated from other aspects of community life. Meanwhile, local political organizations, challenged by numerous civic reforms, became less effective agencies of voter mobilization. The national party organizations, on the other hand, took advantage of improvements in communications, transportation, and organizational techiques to increase their power over Presidential contests. Campaigning itself became a less sporadic endeavor, as party organizations began to plan and even conduct campaigns on a year-round basis. Ironically, at the very time that national parties were finally increasing their control over the campaign process, the advent of new technology gave individual candidate organizations a distinct advantage over the parties in conducting campaigns. By the 1960\u27s candidate organizations at all electoral levels displayed superior organizational capabilities to that of the parties. Indeed, with the parties in a state of disarray candidates often had to recruit their own volunteers and raise all necessary funds. In accomplishing this, candidates would seek assistance from the parties, but they would also expend considerable energy in courting a multitude of non-party political action groups

ORGANIZING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS: A SURVEY OF 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY TRENDS

This dissertation describes how the campaign role of the various entities which have combined to organize campaigns has changed since the early days of the Republic. From the short-run perspective of the leaders of these organizations, the party officials, candidates, labor leaders, etc., their role during campaigns--in 1830 or in 1980--was to attempt to win elections. This study, however, does not adopt their perspective. It deals with campaigning as a process of socializing citizens into the political system rather than as a determinant of electoral success. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, national elections and campaigns were embedded in state and local institutions. Indeed, one of the most important aspects of nineteenth century politics was its virtually total integration with community life. Not only did local political organizations display an incredibly high level of partisan activity, but ostensibly non-political agencies of the community, such as churches and saloons, also evidenced extraordinary degrees of partisanship. As the nineteenth century faded into the twentieth, partisanship and political organization were gradually isolated from other aspects of community life. Meanwhile, local political organizations, challenged by numerous civic reforms, became less effective agencies of voter mobilization. The national party organizations, on the other hand, took advantage of improvements in communications, transportation, and organizational techiques to increase their power over Presidential contests. Campaigning itself became a less sporadic endeavor, as party organizations began to plan and even conduct campaigns on a year-round basis. Ironically, at the very time that national parties were finally increasing their control over the campaign process, the advent of new technology gave individual candidate organizations a distinct advantage over the parties in conducting campaigns. By the 1960\u27s candidate organizations at all electoral levels displayed superior organizational capabilities to that of the parties. Indeed, with the parties in a state of disarray candidates often had to recruit their own volunteers and raise all necessary funds. In accomplishing this, candidates would seek assistance from the parties, but they would also expend considerable energy in courting a multitude of non-party political action groups

Under threat: the International AIDS Society–Lancet Commission on Health and Human Rights

2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration articulates an inspiring vision of a world that is just, equitable, tolerant, and strategically focused on actions to address the most vulnerable and marginalised populations—a counterpoint to the atrocities, repression, and colonialism that characterised much of the 20th century. Endorsement of the Universal Declaration was not commensurate with reality in many cases—especially because numerous signatories still had colonies and because Cold War politics resulted in divisions of social, economic, and political rights into separate international covenants—but it nevertheless inspired decades of progress. The Universal Declaration helped to support important, if partial, retreats of colonialism (with 17 formerly colonised African countries gaining independence in 1960 alone), to enable growing recognition of the rights of women, girls, and gender minorities, and to drive a decline in the annual number of war deaths in the second half of the 20th century