Ryan M Welch
Biographic Data
| ID | 2037612 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ryan M Welch |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ryan M |
| FAMILY NAME | Welch |
| SIGNATURE | WELCH R M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Tampa |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7012-2538 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 106 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
International Human Rights Law and Women’s Access to Abortion
Can international law protect abortion rights? Drawing from past work on domestic mechanisms that give international law teeth, we argue that a strong civil society composed of women's groups and groups concerned with women's rights leads the government to comply with its international human rights commitments to women, specifically their right to abortion. Unlike that past work, though, we draw attention to the ways in which civil society can le…
How Gender Affects Officer Support for Police Militarization
Why do police officers support police militarization despite the dangers it entails for themselves and the community they protect? We argue officer social identity helps explain part of this puzzle, particularly gender identity. Individuals who wish to signal their masculinity engage in actions that involve (the threat of) violence. One way to confirm their willingness to do so is to support the acquisition of military gear and weapons as tools o…
Does Police Militarization Increase Repression
Does police militarization influence government use of repression? While comparative work examines police militarization, violence, human rights abuses, and torture, it does not integrate militarized police within existing theories of repression. Connecting police militarization and repression, this article argues that police militarization increases the police’s perception of threat as well as their coercive capacity, thereby increasing their wi…
Shaming and Treaty Ratification
Does shaming affect human rights treaty ratification? Whereas most scholars study shaming’s effects on eventual human rights respect, models of international shame predict states institutionalize rights before behavioral changes become reality. I take a step back and study shaming’s effects on treaty ratification. Viewing shaming as a process that seeks to change behavior by isolating and embarrassing the target leads to a somewhat counter-intuit…
Evaluating the determinants of support for police militarization among officers
We evaluate the determinants of officer support for their agency participating in the 1033 Program: a program that facilitates the flow of military hardware to local law enforcement agencies. In doing so, we provide insight into why officers demand such equipment, which, in turn, may partially explain patterns of program participation and equipment usage. We utilize a series of random forest models to examine survey data collected from officers i…
Conceptualizing and Measuring Institutional Variation in National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)
A wealth of literature argues that domestic institutions can sometimes restrain government repression. In this article, we highlight an institution tasked specifically with protecting and promoting human rights: the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). Although common international standards exist, NHRIs exhibit substantial variation in their organization, the rights that they protect, the activities they permit, and the manner in which they…
From Litigation to Rights
Do regional human rights courts influence respect for rights? Beyond providing remedy for individual human rights abuse, case outcomes help frame potential social mobilization by setting standards and raising the rights consciousness of civil society actors. The expectation of mobilization can increase the government’s costs of flouting the court’s rulings. We argue that an enabling domestic environment characterized by two features increases gov…
The diversity of repression
Tactical repertoires of mobilization and repression play an essential role in understanding dynamics of political violence, yet existing quantitative approaches focus primarily on intensities or counts of repressive actions. We focus instead on the diversity of repression, and demonstrate a novel method of measuring repertoires of state repression using event data. We show that more repressive states are likely to employ more diverse repertoires …
The Path of the Boomerang
How can information campaigns of nongovernmental human rights organizations (HROs) to “name and shame” human rights violators improve human rights conditions? Is the effect direct—does HRO targeting induce violating states to change their behavior? Or is the effect indirect—does pressure by third parties mediate the relationship between HRO actions and changes in human rights practices? The boomerang and spiral models suggest HRO activity provoke…
Will H. Moore’s enduring contribution to peace and conflict studies
This special issue is dedicated to Will H. Moore’s enduring influence on peace science research and the community of peace science scholars. The five pieces in this special issue exemplify Will’s dedication to the development of rigorous concepts and theories that generate testable hypotheses about political violence and are evaluated using novel, fine-grained data. Will’s pioneering contributions to the study of peace science were both direct—th…
The psychological effects of state socialization
We present an interdisciplinary theory that considers how loss of membership in international organizations affects states’ human rights practices. Drawing mostly from social psychology and international relations research, we argue that states are socialized into the international community through a process of social influence, whereby they are incentivized to comply with group norms by the promise (threat) of social rewards (punishments). Soci…
Militarization and police violence
Does increased militarization of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) lead to an increase in violent behavior among officers? We theorize that the receipt of military equipment increases multiple dimensions of LEA militarization (material, cultural, organizational, and operational) and that such increases lead to more violent behavior. The US Department of Defense 1033 program makes excess military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, available …
A Commentary on the Paris Principles on National Human Rights Institutions by Gauthier de Beco and Rachel Murray
Domestic politics and the power to punish
Why do states give institutions the ability to legally punish them? While past research focuses on international pressure to delegate authority to third parties, I argue that domestic politics plays a key role. By viewing domestic politics through a principal–agent framework, I argue that the more accountable individual legislators remain to the public, the more likely it is that the legislature will delegate legal punishment authority. I focus o…
Why Do Governments Abuse Human Rights?
Because the abuse of human beings is abhorrent, we normatively expect governments to respect those rights. However, throughout human history, abuse of human begins has been the norm. Governments abuse rights because doing so helps leaders exercise, expand, or retain their power. Normatively, this is troubling. Yet, as a positive matter, it should not be surprising. We begin the essay explaining why this is so, and then turn to the question that b…
National Human Rights Institutions
Does adopting a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) make states’ international commitments to not torture more constraining? Many researchers have explored international human rights treaties’ abilities to constrain leaders from violating human rights, some focusing exclusively on the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). Thus far, findings are not promising unless certain domestic conditions apply such as sufficient democratic sp…
Militarization and police violence
Does increased militarization of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) lead to an increase in violent behavior among officers? We theorize that the receipt of military equipment increases multiple dimensions of LEA militarization (material, cultural, organizational, and operational) and that such increases lead to more violent behavior. The US Department of Defense 1033 program makes excess military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, available …
The Path of the Boomerang
How can information campaigns of nongovernmental human rights organizations (HROs) to “name and shame” human rights violators improve human rights conditions? Is the effect direct—does HRO targeting induce violating states to change their behavior? Or is the effect indirect—does pressure by third parties mediate the relationship between HRO actions and changes in human rights practices? The boomerang and spiral models suggest HRO activity provoke…
National Human Rights Institutions
Does adopting a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) make states’ international commitments to not torture more constraining? Many researchers have explored international human rights treaties’ abilities to constrain leaders from violating human rights, some focusing exclusively on the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). Thus far, findings are not promising unless certain domestic conditions apply such as sufficient democratic sp…
From Litigation to Rights
Do regional human rights courts influence respect for rights? Beyond providing remedy for individual human rights abuse, case outcomes help frame potential social mobilization by setting standards and raising the rights consciousness of civil society actors. The expectation of mobilization can increase the government’s costs of flouting the court’s rulings. We argue that an enabling domestic environment characterized by two features increases gov…
Conceptualizing and Measuring Institutional Variation in National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)
A wealth of literature argues that domestic institutions can sometimes restrain government repression. In this article, we highlight an institution tasked specifically with protecting and promoting human rights: the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). Although common international standards exist, NHRIs exhibit substantial variation in their organization, the rights that they protect, the activities they permit, and the manner in which they…
Does Police Militarization Increase Repression
Does police militarization influence government use of repression? While comparative work examines police militarization, violence, human rights abuses, and torture, it does not integrate militarized police within existing theories of repression. Connecting police militarization and repression, this article argues that police militarization increases the police’s perception of threat as well as their coercive capacity, thereby increasing their wi…
The psychological effects of state socialization
We present an interdisciplinary theory that considers how loss of membership in international organizations affects states’ human rights practices. Drawing mostly from social psychology and international relations research, we argue that states are socialized into the international community through a process of social influence, whereby they are incentivized to comply with group norms by the promise (threat) of social rewards (punishments). Soci…
Domestic politics and the power to punish
Why do states give institutions the ability to legally punish them? While past research focuses on international pressure to delegate authority to third parties, I argue that domestic politics plays a key role. By viewing domestic politics through a principal–agent framework, I argue that the more accountable individual legislators remain to the public, the more likely it is that the legislature will delegate legal punishment authority. I focus o…
Evaluating the determinants of support for police militarization among officers
We evaluate the determinants of officer support for their agency participating in the 1033 Program: a program that facilitates the flow of military hardware to local law enforcement agencies. In doing so, we provide insight into why officers demand such equipment, which, in turn, may partially explain patterns of program participation and equipment usage. We utilize a series of random forest models to examine survey data collected from officers i…
The diversity of repression
Tactical repertoires of mobilization and repression play an essential role in understanding dynamics of political violence, yet existing quantitative approaches focus primarily on intensities or counts of repressive actions. We focus instead on the diversity of repression, and demonstrate a novel method of measuring repertoires of state repression using event data. We show that more repressive states are likely to employ more diverse repertoires …
Why Do Governments Abuse Human Rights?
Because the abuse of human beings is abhorrent, we normatively expect governments to respect those rights. However, throughout human history, abuse of human begins has been the norm. Governments abuse rights because doing so helps leaders exercise, expand, or retain their power. Normatively, this is troubling. Yet, as a positive matter, it should not be surprising. We begin the essay explaining why this is so, and then turn to the question that b…
National Human Rights Institutions
Does adopting a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) make states’ international commitments to not torture more constraining? Many researchers have explored international human rights treaties’ abilities to constrain leaders from violating human rights, some focusing exclusively on the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). Thus far, findings are not promising unless certain domestic conditions apply such as sufficient democratic sp…
Militarization and police violence
Does increased militarization of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) lead to an increase in violent behavior among officers? We theorize that the receipt of military equipment increases multiple dimensions of LEA militarization (material, cultural, organizational, and operational) and that such increases lead to more violent behavior. The US Department of Defense 1033 program makes excess military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, available …
A Commentary on the Paris Principles on National Human Rights Institutions by Gauthier de Beco and Rachel Murray
Domestic politics and the power to punish
Why do states give institutions the ability to legally punish them? While past research focuses on international pressure to delegate authority to third parties, I argue that domestic politics plays a key role. By viewing domestic politics through a principal–agent framework, I argue that the more accountable individual legislators remain to the public, the more likely it is that the legislature will delegate legal punishment authority. I focus o…
The psychological effects of state socialization
We present an interdisciplinary theory that considers how loss of membership in international organizations affects states’ human rights practices. Drawing mostly from social psychology and international relations research, we argue that states are socialized into the international community through a process of social influence, whereby they are incentivized to comply with group norms by the promise (threat) of social rewards (punishments). Soci…
Will H. Moore’s enduring contribution to peace and conflict studies
This special issue is dedicated to Will H. Moore’s enduring influence on peace science research and the community of peace science scholars. The five pieces in this special issue exemplify Will’s dedication to the development of rigorous concepts and theories that generate testable hypotheses about political violence and are evaluated using novel, fine-grained data. Will’s pioneering contributions to the study of peace science were both direct—th…
The Path of the Boomerang
How can information campaigns of nongovernmental human rights organizations (HROs) to “name and shame” human rights violators improve human rights conditions? Is the effect direct—does HRO targeting induce violating states to change their behavior? Or is the effect indirect—does pressure by third parties mediate the relationship between HRO actions and changes in human rights practices? The boomerang and spiral models suggest HRO activity provoke…
Conceptualizing and Measuring Institutional Variation in National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)
A wealth of literature argues that domestic institutions can sometimes restrain government repression. In this article, we highlight an institution tasked specifically with protecting and promoting human rights: the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). Although common international standards exist, NHRIs exhibit substantial variation in their organization, the rights that they protect, the activities they permit, and the manner in which they…
From Litigation to Rights
Do regional human rights courts influence respect for rights? Beyond providing remedy for individual human rights abuse, case outcomes help frame potential social mobilization by setting standards and raising the rights consciousness of civil society actors. The expectation of mobilization can increase the government’s costs of flouting the court’s rulings. We argue that an enabling domestic environment characterized by two features increases gov…
The diversity of repression
Tactical repertoires of mobilization and repression play an essential role in understanding dynamics of political violence, yet existing quantitative approaches focus primarily on intensities or counts of repressive actions. We focus instead on the diversity of repression, and demonstrate a novel method of measuring repertoires of state repression using event data. We show that more repressive states are likely to employ more diverse repertoires …
Shaming and Treaty Ratification
Does shaming affect human rights treaty ratification? Whereas most scholars study shaming’s effects on eventual human rights respect, models of international shame predict states institutionalize rights before behavioral changes become reality. I take a step back and study shaming’s effects on treaty ratification. Viewing shaming as a process that seeks to change behavior by isolating and embarrassing the target leads to a somewhat counter-intuit…
Evaluating the determinants of support for police militarization among officers
We evaluate the determinants of officer support for their agency participating in the 1033 Program: a program that facilitates the flow of military hardware to local law enforcement agencies. In doing so, we provide insight into why officers demand such equipment, which, in turn, may partially explain patterns of program participation and equipment usage. We utilize a series of random forest models to examine survey data collected from officers i…
Does Police Militarization Increase Repression
Does police militarization influence government use of repression? While comparative work examines police militarization, violence, human rights abuses, and torture, it does not integrate militarized police within existing theories of repression. Connecting police militarization and repression, this article argues that police militarization increases the police’s perception of threat as well as their coercive capacity, thereby increasing their wi…
International Human Rights Law and Women’s Access to Abortion
Can international law protect abortion rights? Drawing from past work on domestic mechanisms that give international law teeth, we argue that a strong civil society composed of women's groups and groups concerned with women's rights leads the government to comply with its international human rights commitments to women, specifically their right to abortion. Unlike that past work, though, we draw attention to the ways in which civil society can le…
How Gender Affects Officer Support for Police Militarization
Why do police officers support police militarization despite the dangers it entails for themselves and the community they protect? We argue officer social identity helps explain part of this puzzle, particularly gender identity. Individuals who wish to signal their masculinity engage in actions that involve (the threat of) violence. One way to confirm their willingness to do so is to support the acquisition of military gear and weapons as tools o…
Political science (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Human rights (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (7 works) · Human Rights and Development (4 works) · Judicial and Constitutional Studies (4 works) · Law and economics (4 works)