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Do Constitutional Rights Make a Difference?

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  • Adam S. Chilton
  • Mila Versteeg

Abstract

Although the question of whether constitutional rights matter is of great theoretical and practical importance, little is known about whether constitutional rights impact government behavior. In this article, we test the effectiveness of six political rights. We hypothesize that a difference exists between organizational rights—most notably, the rights to unionize and form political parties—and individual rights. Specifically, we suggest that organizational rights increase de facto rights protection because they create organizations with the incentives and means to protect the underlying right, which renders these rights self‐enforcing. Such organizations are not necessarily present to protect individual rights, which could make individual rights less effective. We test our theory using a variety of statistical methods on a data set of constitutional rights for 186 countries. The results support our theory: Organizational rights are associated with increased de facto rights protection, while individual rights are not.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam S. Chilton & Mila Versteeg, 2016. "Do Constitutional Rights Make a Difference?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(3), pages 575-589, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:60:y:2016:i:3:p:575-589
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12239
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    Cited by:

    1. Katarzyna Metelska‐Szaniawska, 2021. "Post‐socialist constitutions: The de jure–de facto gap, its effects and determinantsa," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 175-196, April.
    2. Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska & Jacek Lewkowicz, 2021. "Post-socialist “illiberal democracies”: do de jure constitutional rights matter?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 233-265, June.
    3. Jamie Bologna Pavlik & Andrew T. Young, 2023. "Historical Representative Assembly Experiences and Constitutionalism Today," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(4), pages 665-680, December.
    4. Jacek LEWKOWICZ & Katarzyna METELSKA-SZANIAWSKA, 2021. "De Jure and De Facto Institutions: Implications for Law and for Economics," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 6, pages 758-776.
    5. Abhay Aneja & Guo Xu, 2020. "The Costs of Employment Segregation: Evidence from the Federal Government under Woodrow Wilson," NBER Working Papers 27798, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Aneja, Abhay & Xu, Guo, 2020. "The Costs of Employment Segregation: Evidence from the Federal Government under Wilson," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt7sw871kr, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    7. Lewczuk Anna, 2018. "Empowerment Rights and Happiness Gap in Post-socialist Countries," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 5(52), pages 270-295, January.
    8. Emanuela Carbonara & Giuseppina Gianfreda & Enrico Santarelli & Giovanna Vallanti, 2021. "The impact of intellectual property rights on labor productivity: do constitutions matter? [Research and development in the growth process]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(4), pages 884-904.
    9. Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska & Anna Lewczuk, 2022. "Constitutional overperformance: an empirical study of de facto protection of rights with no de jure equivalents," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 289-317, April.
    10. Kevin L. Cope, 2023. "Measuring law's normative force," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 1005-1044, December.
    11. Joshua Holzer, 2019. "Nationalism and human rights: A replication and extension," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-9, August.
    12. Efrat Asif & Newman Abraham L., 2018. "Cultural Intolerance and Aversion to Foreign Judgments in the American States," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, August.
    13. Joshua Holzer, 2020. "The effect of two-round presidential elections on human rights," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, December.

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