Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Beckman, Ludvig

Titel

The Right to Democracy and the Human Right to Vote: The Instrumental Argument Rejected

Ist Teil von

• Journal of human rights, 2014-10, Vol.13 (4), p.381-394

Ort / Verlag

Routledge

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Quelle

Taylor & Francis Journals Auto-Holdings Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The human right to democracy is often justified instrumentally: Democratic rights are human rights because they contribute to the preservation of basic human rights. In this article, this approach is put to test with regard to the right to vote, which is fundamental to democracy and is recognized by human rights law. The question is whether there is evidence to conclude that the right to vote serves the required instrumental purposes? The answer will depend on how the human right to vote is understood, which in turn depends on how it is interpreted by the relevant human rights bodies. The answer also depends on the empirical evidence available. This article shows that the human right to vote is not vindicated by instrumental considerations and explains why this follows from both empirical and conceptual reasons. The conclusion is that instrumental considerations are unable to fully account for the norms currently recognized by human rights law.