The Effectiveness of UN Human Rights Institutions By Patrick James Flood Praeger Publishers . Westport, Conn. 1998 . 184 pages LC 97-17516. Through trial and error, some of these institutions have had a degree of success in securing better practical observance of international human rights standards.
Flood examines the reasons why some structural approaches have had more impact than others.
He argues that states must make policy choices in an environment where many political actors operate simultaneously and where several state interests are in play simultaneously. This situation creates the political space in which community structures can operate to influence behavior. Because states require the active or tacit cooperation of other states to promote their interests, they seek to avoid prolonged political isolation. Thus, the most effective UN human rights institutions are those linked in meaningful ways with Charter-based human rights mechanisms. There is evidence that they have greater impact when employed simultaneously, as well as when key states support their efforts bilaterally.