Claude E. Welch, Jr.

PhD

Claude E. Welch, Jr.

Claude E. Welch, Jr.

PhD

Claude E. Welch, Jr.

PhD

SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Comparative Politics

Scholarly Interests

Impacts of non-governmental organizations, notably on human rights; civil military relations; democratization following authoritarian rule

About

Claude Welch holds the ranks of SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and is a retired professor of the Department of Political Science at the University at Buffalo. His academic specializations include African politics, the roles of armed forces in politics and human rights. Professor Welch has published widely on these subjects, with fourteen books and close to forty chapters and articles in academic journals. In 2006, he received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award given by TIAA-CREF and the SUNY Research Foundation. During his career at Buffalo, which started in 1964, Welch chaired or served on ~100 dissertation committees. He is known for his high-quality teaching, having received awards from Political Science students, the Undergraduate Student Association and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Watch Professor Welch on Mo Rocca’s CBS Sunday Morning segment about Millard Fillmore: Millard Fillmore – A Presidential Portrait

A grateful campus salutes one of its most influential teacher-scholars after five decades of service

Education

  • PhD, Oxford University
  • BA, Harvard University (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa)

Current Research

On the broadest level, I am interested in political transitions, particularly in developing countries, and most notably in Africa. My publications have come in the areas of African politics, human rights and civil-military relations. My research for the past several years, and continuing into the future, involves the effectiveness of human rights non-governmental organizations. As key parts of civil society, NGOs have become central to the promotion and protection of human rights. I document this in several books, four already published (Human Rights in Asia, 1990; Protecting Human Rights in Africa: Strategies and Roles of Non-Governmental Organizations, 1995; NGOs and Human Rights: Promise and Performance, 2001; and Economic and Social Rights in Canada and the United States, 2006). Currently under preparation is Protecting Human Rights Globally: Strategies and Roles of International NGOs.

Courses Taught

  • PSC 370 – African Politics
  • PSC 430 – Human Rights
  • PSC 438 – Civil-military relations
  • PSC 521 – African Politics
  • PSC 540 – International Law
  • PSC 646 – Civil Military Relations
  • PSC 625 – Political change
  • PSC 650 – Human Rights 
  • UGC 112 – World Civilizations since 1500
  • Special seminars for the University Honors Program (courses on Africa through Novels and Films, on International Human Rights, and on Women’s and Men’s Language)
  • Doctoral Dissertation Activity

Selected Publications

  • “Extending Enforcement: The Coalition for the International Criminal Court,” Human Rights Quarterly 33 (November
    2011), pp. 927-1031.
  • Economic Rights in Canada and the United States (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006) (book of original essays, co-edited with Rhoda Howard-Hassmann, Canada Research Chair in Global Studies and Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University) (Nominated to the American Political Science Association by the University of Pennsylvania Press as the best book in human rights in 2006).
  • “Human Rights and Development in Africa: NGOs”, in Paul Tiyame Zeleza and Phil McConnaughay, editors, Human Rights: The Role of Law and Development in Africa (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003), pp. 198-208.
  • “Nongovernmental Organizations and their Potential for Conflict Reduction in Africa,” in Carolyn Pumphrey and Rye Schwartz-Barcott, eds., Armed Conflict in Africa (Methuen NJ: Scarecrow Press, 2003), pp. 113-138.
  • “Human Rights Watch: American Liberal Values in the World Arena,” in Teamsters and Turtles? U.S. Progressive Political Movements in the 21st Century, edited by John C. Berg (Totowa NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), pp. 211-229.
  • “Human Rights NGOs as the Motors of Change,” in Taj I. Hamad, Frederick A. Swarts and Anne R. Smart, eds., Culture of Responsibility and the Role of NGOs (St. Paul, MN: Paragon House, 2003), pp. 93-100.