Overview
- Discusses the role of human rights in the practice of subnational law and policy-making
- Explores the mechanisms that facilitate the engagement of subnational actors with human rights
- Identifies the subnational actors who can spur implementation of human rights obligations
- This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access
Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies (PSLS)
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About this book
Making human rights a reality requires that various types of domestic actors take measures, which is often demanding, all the more so in federal systems. This open access book, Engaging with Human Rights: How Subnational Actors use Human Rights Treaties in Policy Processes, shows that an important part is played at the subnational level, with repeated back-and-forth between and within levels of governance rather than a ‘top-down’ trajectory. The dynamics of implementation at national and sub-national level is an emerging area of study. This book explores how actors use human rights treaties in the policy process, sometimes leading to an engagement that increases human rights implementation, and at other times not. Treaties provide both opportunities and constraints.
Switzerland, as a highly decentralized federal state, offers a perfect setting to study the processes at work. Using legal, political, and sociological analyses, the authors draw on over 65 semi-structured interviews and focusses on two topical case studies: violence against women, including domestic violence, and the rights of persons with disabilities. This book provides a blueprint for other researchers and practitioners who wish to study the concrete implementation and impacts of human rights obligations.
Keywords
Table of contents (6 chapters)
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Jonathan Miaz (Shared first Authorship) is a lecturer and researcher in political science at the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Evelyne Schmid (Shared first Authorship) is a professor of international law at the Centre of Comparative, European and International Law at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Matthieu Niederhauser is a PhD Candidate at the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and was a researcher at the Global Governance Institute at University College London until November 2022.
Constance Kaempfer works at the Directorate of International Law of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and is a former senior researcher at the Centre of Comparative, European and International Law at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Martino Maggetti is an associate professor of political science at the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Engaging with Human Rights
Book Subtitle: How Subnational Actors use Human Rights Treaties in Policy Processes
Authors: Jonathan Miaz, Evelyne Schmid, Matthieu Niederhauser, Constance Kaempfer, Martino Maggetti
Series Title: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53518-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2024
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-53517-8Published: 17 May 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-53518-5Published: 16 May 2024
Series ISSN: 2947-9274
Series E-ISSN: 2947-9282
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 134
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: Socio-legal Studies, Human Rights, Public Law, European Law, Political Science, Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights