Political Science, Department of
First Advisor
Alice Kang
Second Advisor
Courtney Hillebrecht
Third Advisor
Ross Miller
Date of this Version
12-2023
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
Major: Political Science
Under the supervision of Professor Alice Kang
Lincoln, Nebraska, December 2023
Abstract
As regional economic communities within Africa expanded into courts to resolve economic disputes and these courts further metamorphosed into human rights courts, scholars of international human rights law have theorized about the reason for the “proliferation” of human rights mechanisms in Africa. This article examines why regional economic communities have courts whose jurisdiction have been expanded to hear human rights claims. I focus on the role of domestic politics and the strategic leadership of dominant member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Contrary to approaches that emphasize human rights courts are a well-orchestrated showmanship utilized as “strategies of extraversion”, I argue that the leadership of dominant member states sustains a human rights regime within the subregion. The behavior of dominant member states affects the legitimacy and stability of human rights courts in Africa and shapes the direction of their human rights jurisdiction. I further contend that with respect to ECOWAS, democratic consolidation, the personality of the leader as well as the normative persuasion of the domestic and sub-regional audience have been the primary factors that have driven the establishment of the Court and shaped its movement toward becoming a mechanism for the enforcement of human rights.
Advisor: Alice Kang
Comments
Copyright 2023, Fatima Mercy Aigbomian