Economic and Social Rights in the United States: Implementation Without Ratification

In 1948, the United States firmly supported the inclusion of economic and social rights when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights encompassing these rights. Since then, however, the U.S. has been ambivalent, and at times hostile, to these rights. Although the U.S. Senate ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1992, it never ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and it does not look likely to do so in the near future. Nonetheless, economic and social rights are being implemented in the United States. International human rights mechanisms – including the Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteurs – investigate the U.S. record on respecting, protecting and fulfilling the economic and social rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, state, county and city governments now look to international economic and social rights to guide their decision-making and evaluate their progress. Despite the ambivalence of the U.S. government toward these rights, they are being implemented in the U.S. at the federal, state and local level. This article explains how.