Abstract

Do large numbers of human rights international non-governmental organizations correlate with high governmental respect for human rights? Moreover, do the activities of these organizations with members within a country lead to improvements in the human rights practices within a state? This paper uses new data to provide the first large scale empirical test of the effects of these organizations on human rights practices. It finds that human rights international non-governmental organizations can have an important impact on human rights practices, even after accounting for general levels of overall civil society. 

Key words:  INGOs, human rights, non-profits.