The Universal Declaration of Human Rights seeks to improve the life conditions, dignity, and well-being of society's most oppressed, vulnerable, and impoverished groups. The international human rights machinery, however, is embedded in high-flying international organizations, such as the United Nations, and in extremely elite professions, such as international diplomacy and law.
Are human rights principles, policies, and approaches coming down to earth? Can local civil society groups overcome the international human rights machinery's cultural, educational, and social barriers? Can they develop strong and explicit human rights constituencies among ordinary people? The articles in this section address these questions issues head-on, beginning with a description of new "Human Rights Perception Polls" in Mexico, India, Morocco, and Colombia.
