The political power of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights was created in 1969 with the purpose to protect and interpret the American Convention on Human Rights and other treaties. Like any international court, it lacks traditional measures to enforce its decisions, having to resort to the willingness of states to have its sentences fulfilled. In this context, does the Inter-American Court have political power? What would be the indicators of the effectiveness of the Court in fulfilling its mandate? In this research, I rely on the lessons learned from the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights and identify five variables which are regarded as evidence of an international court's power: compliance with sentences, increase in caseload, legal doctrines, supremacy of rulings and domestic courts'; support. I find significant evidence to corroborate the theory that the Inter-American Court has political power to apply and improve human rights in the Americas