The Right to Democracy in Contemporary International Law

The right to self-determination of peoples, right to political participation and its associatedrights including political rights and freedoms as well as right to elect and to be elected,principles of equality and non-discrimination are all widely recognized international normsand conventional rules which have been derived from the principle of democraticlegitimacy and then they are guaranteed by conventional means. Over the last few decades, Human Rights Committee, European and Inter-American Commissions on Human Rights, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the UN General Assembly have developed an unprecedented international practice regarding the internal governingstructures of the states. This practice has a specific impact on the future of the right todemocracy. The present article aims to clarify the position of the right to democracy within the contemporary international law through analyzing the international participatory rights embodied in the human rights conventions as normative foundations of the right todemocracy and their role in the development of customary human rights norms.