Public opinion polls on national security issues are often seen as indicators of the strength of international human rights norms. By contrast, we hypothesise that the very act of answering poll questions can weaken citizens’ understandings of important international human rights laws and norms in the very moment they are being measured. We ground this discussion empirically by analysing a new dataset of post-9/11 survey questions on two US national security policies at odds with international human rights norms: ‘enhanced interrogations’ and ‘targeted killing’. In so doing, we encourage a widened research agenda on how international legal and normative understandings are transmitted to the public through surveys. We conclude by highlighting substantive implications for norm scholars and policy implications for norm advocates.

中文翻译：

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生死问题：通过美国民意调查（反）构建人权规范

关于国家安全问题的民意调查通常被视为国际人权规范强度的指标。相比之下，我们假设回答民意调查问题的行为本身会削弱公民对重要国际人权法律和规范的理解，即在它们被衡量的那一刻。我们通过分析新的 9/11 后调查问题数据集来实证这一讨论，这些问题涉及两项与国际人权规范不一致的美国国家安全政策：“加强审讯”和“有针对性的杀戮”。在此过程中，我们鼓励扩大研究议程，研究如何通过调查将国际法律和规范性理解传达给公众。最后，我们强调了对规范学者的实质性影响和对规范倡导者的政策影响。