Presidential Regimes and Human Rights.

Political institutions play an important role in shaping public policy. The literature presents robust empirical evidence linking policy differences with alternative constitutional structures for policy areas ranging from trade openness to environmental protection, yet not for the protection of human rights, which is our focus. In this paper we consider the effects of presidential constitution on human rights. .x000d.There are two sets of theoretical arguments and empirical findings in the paper. First, we argue that presidential systems are inferior for human rights practices. In the data we find that, indeed, worse practices of physical integrity rights (as well as other rights) are observed in presidential regimes. Second, we argue that the adverse effect of presidency on human rights is not an artifact of marginal democracies relying on presidency, but has systematic basis. To support that claim, we show that the difference between regime types in their ability to protect human rights increases as the quality of democracy improves and institutions play more important role. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]