A Network Analysis of Resolution Co-Sponsorship in the UN Human Rights Council

• In Event: Understanding the Ties That Bind States: Institutions, Networks, and Community

Abstract

The international human rights regime is a complex system of rules, norms, and institutions that are designed to protect human rights. The regime has been successful in raising awareness of human rights issues and in promoting the implementation of human rights standards. However, the regime has also faced a number of challenges, including the rise of populism and nationalism, the decline of multilateralism, and the increasing number of human rights abuses. Resolution co-sponsorship is a common practice in the UN Human Rights Council. It allows countries to show their support for a particular resolution without having to vote on it. By analyzing data on resolution co-sponsorship, we can gain insights into the changing dynamics of the international human rights regime. This paper analyzes how the international human rights regime has changed in the past 15 years by looking at novel data on resolution co-sponsorship in the UN Human Rights Council between 2006 and 2020. We conduct network analysis to see how communities of countries evolved over time in specific topics and how centrality of countries changed over time. Moreover, we also explore what are the main words introduced in the text of resolutions and by whom.

Authors

• Jared Falkenberg Edgerton, University of Texas at Dallas

• Gino Pauselli, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign