Collaborative Research: The CIRI Human Rights Data Project

University Of Memphis, Memphis TN

Investigators

Abstract

The Cingranelli and Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data Project (www.humanrightsdata.org) provides scholars, policy-makers, teachers, and students with easily accessible, high quality annual information about government respect for a broad array of human rights in every country in the world (1981-present). NSF funding enables annual updates of the data set and allows it to be made publicly available for free and in a timely manner. Funding also supports the addition of new measures of economic, social, and cultural rights; and the improvement of existing measures for freedoms of religion and movement and freedoms from political imprisonment, torture, extra-judicial killing and disappearance. Measuring human rights practices is necessary for the development and implementation of evidence-based policies where policy outcomes are expected to affect the human rights practices of governments. CIRI data is used for evidence-based policy making by many, including the U.S.' Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the European Commission, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. One MCC Development Policy Officer wrote to CIRI, "We sincerely hope that you all will be able to continue expanding and updating the CIRI Human Rights Data Set. It is an extremely useful tool for the U.S. Government, as we are using this information to make multi-billion dollar aid allocation decisions." In addition, human rights measurement allows the building of theories and empirical examination of important questions such as "Do improvements in human rights practices around the world lead to reductions in international terrorism? "How have specific policies such as trade/financial liberalization, bilateral foreign aid and structural adjustment conditions affected the human rights practices of target states?" and "Do human rights crises and successes have measurable effects on the human rights practices neighboring governments?" While only available to the general public since August 1, 2004, CIRI data have already been used in more than 20 journal articles and books, scores of working/conference papers and many dissertations.