Political Rights

Abstract

Is there a human right to democracy (HRD)? How does the achievement of human rights, including the human right to democracy, contribute to the pursuit of global justice? The chapter identifies three reasons for favoring democracy and explores their significance for defending it as a human right. It answers important worries that acknowledging an HRD would lead to intolerance and lack of respect for people’s self-determination, exaggerate the importance of democracy for securing other rights, generalize institutional arrangements that only work in some contexts, and tie human rights to specific ideas of freedom and equality that do not have the same universal appeal and urgency. Tackling the second question, the chapter argues that by providing a floor of dignity on which people can stand in the organization of their social life, democratic political empowerment is crucial for the pursuit of both basic and maximal global justice.