According to author Debra DeLaet, state sovereignty is defined as “the exclusive right of a State to govern the affairs of its inhabitants and to be free from external control” (DeLaet, 2006, 3). Having freedom from external control allows a state to implement its own policies or government type. With this, countries with tyrannies or dictatorships have the protection from international law to commit their choice of actions or implement their choice of policies regardless of the potential harm. For example, in China the labor laws are completely different from those in the United States. However, because of our domestic views on how workers should be treated and what a respectful and healthy workplace should be like, China’s labor laws seem very inhumane to us. Due to state sovereignty, China has all control over the implementation of its labor laws and policies. This is a prime example of why human rights are contested. Having endless work days, cruel treatment of employees, abusive employers, and wages that are not livable does not support human dignity and therefore can be considered as negligence of fundamental human rights. Yet, because of international laws which prohibit external control over another country’s decisions and governing, China’s laws are ultimately up to China. Under sovereignty, China has the “authority to determine how they will treat their own citizens and other …show more content…
Discussed in “Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice” by Jack Donnelly, the three major forms of social interaction involving rights are: assertive exercise, active respect, and objective enjoyment. First, assertive exercise means that rights are exercised in society and the state is obligated to either respect or violate them. Second, active respect means that the state discusses rights, but does not enforce them or exercise them. Third, objective enjoyment means that even the thought of rights does not occur in a state because there are no issues that require discussing the implementation of rights; therefore, exercise and enforcement do not happen. However, under forms of social interaction involving rights, the possession of rights may be misunderstood. Possession is easily confused with the respect for, or the enforcement of rights (Donnelly, 2013,9). Obviously in an ideal world, rights would always be respected and therefore, wouldn’t have to be enforced. However, not all global communities feel that they should respect rights or need to enforce them, nor do they always agree who will end up enjoying rights if they are