Replication Data for: Lobbying, Access Points, and the Protection of Human Rights in Democracies

Why do some democracies better protect human rights than other democracies? Although research shows that democracies engage in fewer human rights abuses than non-democracies, we know less about what explains variation in respect for rights among democracies. Using Access Point Theory, we argue that the number of points of access for interest groups in democracies leads to better protection of physical integrity rights but has weaker or no effects on workers’ rights. By increasing the amount of access provided to interest groups, lobbying becomes cheaper which enables human rights organization to lobby for better rights protection but, on workers’ rights, also enables businesses to lobby against those protections. We examine these expectations using data on all democracies from 1980 to 2002, as well as a new latent measure of economic rights constructed using item response theory.为何部分民主国家相较于其他民主国家，能更出色地保护人权？尽管已有研究表明，民主国家比非民主国家更少发生侵犯人权的行为，但对于民主国家之间在人权尊重程度上存在差异的成因，我们仍知之甚少。本研究借助准入点理论（Access Point Theory）提出：民主国家中向利益集团开放的准入点数量，能够有效提升对人身完整权的保护水平，但对劳工权利的影响则相对微弱，甚至无显著作用。增加向利益集团开放的准入点会降低游说成本：一方面，人权组织得以更便捷地开展游说以推动人权保护水平提升；另一方面，企业也能借此进行游说，反对相关劳工权益保护举措。本研究采用1980年至2002年所有民主国家的相关数据，以及借助项目反应理论（item response theory）构建的全新经济权利潜变量测度指标，对上述理论预期进行了实证检验。