This is a case study on the profile and work of the European Commission of human rights and Amnesty International, in relation to regional challenges in Western Europe of the mid 1980's. The development of propositions is attempted along the lines of three main concerns and their theoretical ramifications: (1) Structural differences between human rights agencies as reflected in their reports. (2) The development of a human rights case law and ad hoc organizational guidelines on their protection. (3) Regional idiosyncrasies and the cultural construction of the notion of basic rights and freedoms.

Most of the data used were derived from the following sources: (a) Thirty volumes of "Decisions and Reports" of the European Commission of human rights, examining 485 applications ("cases") between 1982 and 1986. (b) Amnesty International Reports from 1983 to 1987 on Western Europe, covering the years 1982-1986. (c) Field experience of the life of a major city in the southeast part of the continent (Athens, Greece) with an emphasis on the educational system of the late 1970's and 1980's.

Typical concepts of the institutional school of organization theory were the initial instruments employed to explore the data, although a number of theoretical revisions, pointing to different directions, appeared necessary in the process. Finally, the implications for human rights protection in a relatively integrated Western Europe are discussed, especially in view of the possible formation of new inter-State organizational structures. In short, this is an essay on Western Europe and human rights, or quality of life, in more general terms, and conceivably coordinated attempts to manage regional eccentricities.