Human rights in the South Pacific: A comparative analysis

Abstract

To date, no research has attempted to evaluate human rights in the Pacific region in comparative perspective. Employing commonly used cross-national measures of basic human rights, the author examines how well regimes in the region respect political and civil rights as well as the right to physical integrity. The results reveal that, as regards political and civil rights, the region appears to resemble parts of the developing world more than the developed world. In contrast, the region performs relatively well with regard to available measures of personal integrity rights. Moreover, the results reveal that levels of respect for certain key individual human rights in different states across the region are far from uniform. The author subsequently poses questions for future research based on these findings.

• democracy
• human rights
• Pacific Island Countries

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Scott Walker

Biographical note

Scott Walker is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Canterbury. His research focuses on human rights, democratization and civil conflict. He has published in such journals as Human Rights Quarterly, Journal of Human Rights, International Interactions and Conflict Management and Peace Science.