Procedural Compliance with International Human Rights Institutions

This article seeks to answer whether states comply with international human rights institutions by focusing on the impact of the Universal Periodic Review ( UPR ) process on human rights treaty ratification. We examine why and how states comply with UPR recommendations based on three compliance mechanisms in international relations theory: coercion, self-interest, and legitimacy. The unique architecture of the UPR enables all three compliance mechanisms to operate within the process. This research shows that as the volume of UPR recommendations increases, the likelihood of compliance with treaty ratification rises through the interplay of these mechanisms. Utilizing pooled event history analysis, this study shows the positive and significant effects of UPR recommendations on the ratification of thirteen international human rights treaties between 2008 and 2018. By providing a large-N analysis of the UPR ’s effects, this study contributes to the literature on human rights compliance and highlights the importance of procedural compliance.