Human Rights Matters : Local Politics and National Human Rights Institutions / Julie A. Mertus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mertus, Julie A., Author.

Series:

Stanford Studies in Human Rights

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 p.) : 2 tables

Place of Publication:

Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, [2022]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Among human rights advocates, dominant wisdom holds that the promotion and protection of human rights relies not on international efforts, but on domestic action. International institutions may capture news headlines, but it is national groups that effectively shape local expectations and ultimately make human rights matter. Through a series of case studies and an extensive range of interviews with the administrators and constituencies of national human rights institutions, Julie Mertus offers a close look at the day-to-day workings of these groups. She presents an unusual and lively set of European cases—examining Bosnia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, and Northern Ireland—to illustrate how local culture matters in promoting human rights. But even with the obvious successes of these institutions, Mertus offers a cautionary tale. National institutions are incredibly difficult to design and operate, and they are only as good as the domestic political and economic factors will allow. It is too frequently seen that the countries most supportive of human rights on the world stage may prove to be highly disappointing back home.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

1. Operationalizing Human Rights at the Local Level

2. "Opinion Doctors, and "Can Openers": Denmark's National Human Rights Institution

3. "The Hardest Job I Ever Had": Northern Ireland's Human Rights Commission

4. Counting in Threes: The Human Rights Ombudsmen in Bosnia-Herzegovina

5. When Less Is More: Considering the Ombudsman System in the Czech Republic

6. Straddling Checkpoint Charlie: The German Human Rights In

7. Conclusion

Appendix 1: Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles)

Appendix 2: The NHRis: Mandate Excerpts and Contact Information

Notes

Bibliography

Interviewees

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 31. Jan 2022)

ISBN:

1-5036-2728-4

OCLC:

1294424818