Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 116

THE VALUE OF A HUMAN SECURITY APPROACH

FREEDOM FROM FEAR

Implications
for human security
Human security and the rule of law

A key finding to emerge from the six contexts
examined here is the central role of the citizenstate relationship in shaping individual experiences
of security. The case studies present a range of
governance contexts, from centralised states to
weak states to statelessness. Across the majority of
contexts, respondents refer to the rule of law – a
legal system of rules applied equally to all citizens,
enforced by governing authorities – as one of the
greatest contributors or missing sources of security.
Rule of law reflects the conditions of the social
contract. In a democratic society, laws articulate
widely shared norms and agreements about rules
to govern society, and reflect citizens’ interests
and perspectives. As noted by Ogata and Sen, the
rule of law not only protects citizens through law
enforcement, but empowers them by establishing
systems of recourse and legal standards to which
they can hold the state accountable. The rule of law
is one expression of the state-society relationship.
Citizen trust in the institutions of rule of law – the
judiciary, the police, and the legal system itself –
may be one useful indicator of the levels of human
security in a population. If citizens do not trust state
institutions, it is likely that the state is not providing
key aspects of human security. Respondents in all
contexts express their fear or mistrust of police and
military forces.
The citizen-state relationship
Effective human security strategies transform the
citizen-state relationship. They make the state
more responsive, trustworthy, and accountable
while empowering citizens to participate in
governance and address social conflicts. Successful
human security strategies both improve the
state’s effectiveness at protecting citizens and
simultaneously empower those citizens. For
example, the existence of civic-government policy
platforms has enabled Mexican citizens to become

Effective human security
strategies transform
the citizen-state relationship.
116 stories of Human Security | the Citizen-State Relationship

PHYSICAL SECURITY

more powerful in their relationships with the state.
Their influence helped lead to a change in state
protection strategies from a militarised model to a
rule of law model. In Zimbabwe, the formation of
local peace committees brings together state and
non-state community leaders to resolve conflicts
ranging from community to domestic violence.

PROTECTION

(STATE, RULE OF LAW)

Strengthening the rule
of law and improving
the citizen-state
relationship can be
key human security
strategies

STATE-CITIZEN PARTNERSHIP

EMPOWERMENT

(CITIZENS’/PEOPLE INITIATIVES)

FREEDOM FROM WANT

While limited attention has been paid to the
link between human security and international
law, rule of law as part of the domestic policy
framework has not garnered adequate attention in
literature on human security.3 The perspectives of
citizens presented in this publication suggest that
strengthening the rule of law and improving the
citizen-state relationship can be key human security
strategies. Future study of the operationalisation of
human security should therefore further examine
the role of rule of law in achieving human security.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Complementarity
The importance of the rule of law in providing
human security addresses what is frequently
perceived as a tension between a national security
versus a human security approach. When national
security strategies undermine the rule of law,
they erode a key source of present or future state
protection for citizens. A human security approach
calls for complementarity between national security
policies and the rule of law. When national security
strategies undermine the transparent and fair use of
civil and criminal courts, introduce military forces to
conduct police operations, or violate domestic and
international law, they undermine the foundations
of human security. State protection strategies should,
to the degree possible, reinforce each other, rather
than conflict. To be effective in the long-term, state

FREEDOM FROM INDIGNITY
HUMAN RIGHTS

protection strategies should at the least do minimal
harm to, and ideally protect and strengthen practices
and institutions of the rule of law. State protection
approaches can also complement bottom-up
empowerment approaches. For example, police
have referred cases to the local peace committees
in Zimbabwe, which include traditional, civic, and
political leaders, to manage and resolve community
conflicts using traditional mechanisms.
The principle of complementarity applies to citizen
empowerment strategies as well. When citizens arm
themselves and form militia groups, their response
may effectively win security in the short term, but

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A human security approach
calls for complementarity
between national security
policies and the rule of law.
may create the conditions for prolonging conflict
in the long-term by undermining rule of law and
creating future sources of insecurity.
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