Political systems

- Communism
- Democracy
- Dictatorship
- Monarchy
- Facism
- Authoritarianism
- Socialism

Democracy
- Voting
- Freedom to run for elections
- Free markets
- Freedom of speech
- Fundamental rights
- Free political parties
- Power-balance
Made in Athens from Greeks meaning rule of the people

Two types of democracy

Direct democracy
- Everyone votes, including ordinary citizens
- Usually happens in a referendum vote, where people vote for or against a
significant change or particular issue
Representative democracy
- When you vote for a representative to do the talking and decision-making for
you

Democracy Index
- Something used to measure the amount of democracy a country has using 5
categories
Categories
- Electoral process and pluralism, how fair are the elections and how is power
spread out
- Functioning of the government, how well the government performs its role
- Political participation, How many people participate in the country's politics
- Political culture, people's awareness of their country's politics
- Civil liberties, freedom of speech, right of religion, right to privacy, right to
protest
A state: a territory with its own institutions and populations
A sovereign state: Can also have the right and capacity to make treaties and other
agreements with other states
A nation: a large group of people who inhabit a specific territory and are connected
by history, culture or another commonality
A nation-state: a nation that's also a state

Need Want

Food Ronith
Water A Nintendo†mo DS
Shelter
Airconditioning

There are two rights documents, The rights of the child and the basic human rights

Civic rights Political rights Economic Social right Cultural rights

rights

All human
beings are
born free and
equal in dignity
and rights.

Everyone is
entitled to all
the rights and
freedoms set
forth in this
Declaration,
without
distinction of
any kind, such
as race,
colour, sex,
language,
religion,
political or
other opinion

Everyone has
the right to life,
liberty and
security of
person.

No one shall
be held in
slavery or
servitude;
slavery and
the slave
trade shall be
prohibited in
all their
forms.

No one shall
be subjected
to torture or
to cruel,
inhuman or
degrading
treatment or
punishment.
Human Rights and International Law

Why is having laws that cross borders important?

Some countries may have a conflict if they follow different laws with no
standardisation

● Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

(1948)
● International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (1965)
● International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
● International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
● Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (1979)
● United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982)
● Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
● Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996)
● International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism (1999)
 ● International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism (2005)
● Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
● United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage
of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (2008)
● Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (2008)

No Lgbtq+ rights

Signed: When you pinky promise that you will adhere to the law in your country

Ratification: When you adhere to a law you signed on (optional)

ICC: a court which tries people for genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity

- It has 18 judges from different countries

- Judges work in chambers, wearing translation heqadphones
- They try to ensure a fair trial
- Some criticisms are that it is very difficult to enforce

ICC ICJ ECHR ECJ

- Investigate - Settles Individuals or - Oversees

es and arguments states in Europe EU laws
tries between are tried here correct
individuals nations when suspected applicatioi
charged to have violated n
with human rights
crimes of
concern to
 the
internation
al
community

Why is the ICC under attack?

- The ICC tries people for genocide, war crimes, crimes against
humanities, and crimes of aggression
- The US is especially vocal in its opposition
- The US, China, and Russia are the main countries that don't accept the
ICC’s jurisdiction
- The US argues the court undermines national sovereignty
- It has also been criticized for targeting African countries
- It is not certain perpetrators will be brought to trial
- ICC doesn’t have its own police force

Advantages of the ICC

- They send a message to the international community

Gaza-Israel conflict summary

The conflict started after a massacre in which militants from Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another extremist group, launched attacks that killed
more than 1,400 Israelis and took more than 240 hostages. Israel has
responded by blocking any supplies from going into Gaza and has blocked
humanitarian organizations from entering. They have also bombed multiple
targets, and while some are related to the Hamas attack, some were not and
overall the bombing has caused significant civilian deaths. Both sides have
violated the Geneva Conventions protection of civilian persons in time of war
article 3 which states that any non-combatant shall in all circumstances be
treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour,
religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
The UN
Some important UN committees are

UNICEF
Goals: Unicef strives to protect the rights of the child and their well-being. Some
notable goals include: Decreasing child mortality, Increasing child development,
Protecting children from violence and abuse, Equality, and Advocacy
Example: Unicef helps countries when they are in wartime situations, an example of
this is currently in Gaza where they are trying to deliver medical supplies, clean
water and trying to make sure when the conflict ends that schools will be in place
and children will still have access to education
UNEP
Goals: tries to promote sustainable development and combat environmental issues
Examples:
ECOSOC
Goals:
UNAIDS
Goals:
UNHRC
Goals:

Responsibility to protect
Responsibility to protect: to act in the face of atrocities
Pillar 1: to protect it's population from genocide, warcrimes, crimes aginst humanity
or ethenic cleansing
Pillar 2: to protect the international community and assist individual states in
protecting their populations
Pillar 3: for the international community to collectively intervene in the event that a
state fails to protect it's populations
The following is just a doctrine, it's not legally binding and so can’t be enforced

Define ‘responsibility to protect’ A doctrine that says if states cannot protect

their own population, other states are
obligated to help

Which countries, where humanitarian Libya(2011)- The UN security council voted to

intervention occurred, are mentioned? take action and protect civilians

‘Sovereignty is not only something you get. A country must protect it's population, or other
You have to give back. As a government, you will do it for you
have a duty to protect your own population. If
you don’t do this or can’t do this, then some
other State or organisation will do it.’ Try to
simplify this complex idea and write it in your
own words

Which countries supported and pushed the US

idea of ‘responsibility to protect’?

Which countries did not support the idea? India, China, Indonesia

Why is Libya ‘still a bloody mess’ even after Although the regime was gone, an even worse
an intervention got rid of a bad government? one was replaced. You have to build peace
after war, or you will not succeed

What are some of the problems/difficulties Difficulties in humanitarian intervention, and

associated with humanitarian intervention? also public opinion. Sometimes intervention
can also make a worse situation

Who pays the price of NON-intervention? The civilians in the countries that need
intervention

R2P adds a moral dimension to conflict

Opinions: I think that it is a very good concept in theory, however it has many
problems, such as the fact that it is not legally binding, and in fact it can allow foreign
governments access to other countries, where they could increase their influence or
have other ulterior motives.

The Israel source (The jerusalem post) Heavily focuses