Ratifying the children’s rights treaty served as a signal of alignment with Western norms.
Evidence
The rapid ratification reflected two factors. First: the post-communist states were eager to signal their alignment with Western human-rights norms as part of the broader Euro-Atlantic integration project. CRC ratification was part of the package alongside Council of Europe membership, EU accession candidacy, and NATO partnership. Second: the CRC’s child-protection framework resonated with the Makarenko tradition’s formal prohibition of corporal punishment — even though the operational reality had diverged from the formal prohibition (Episode 92). — , The Rod and the Child, 5637
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the Makarenko formal-prohibition divergence noted in Episode 92, and to the broader signal-theory literature on norm adoption.