Human rights and the transnational policy process: from norm diffusion to bureaucratic values

• In Event: New directions in comparative education policy (Part 1): Transnational policy dynamics and processes

Proposal

Human rights research has addressed the state as a monolithic agent which, under the constraints of the international system, is pressed to commit and conform to international human rights norms. However, the ‘spiral model’ of international norm diffusion (Risse, Ropp and Sikkink, 1999) has, for the most part, missed the role of the policy process as a possible conduit for human rights protection, as well as the role of principled individuals who can work within the state machinery to promote human rights policies. In the framework of the transnational policy process (Morais de Sá e Silva & Porto De Oliveira, 2023), this paper will propose the idea of an “international norm-policy-bureaucrat system” based on the case of Brazil in the past thirty years.

The article is based on a mixed methods design. Data collection began with a 45-question survey distributed electronically to former and current federal officials in Brazil. It used a snowball sample due to difficulties of reaching a random representative sample. A total of 342 participants responded the survey. In the second phase, survey respondents were invited to a follow-up interview. A total of 129 respondents participated in in-depth interviews of 1.5 hour. Although the data does not originate from a statistically representative sample, the data collected from a diverse group of 342 participants from various federal careers working across numerous federal institutions has led to findings that can better situate bureaucrats within norm diffusion and the transnational policy process.

The paper highlights the relevance of addressing the policy process as embedded in transnational dynamics while constituted by the agency of multiple individuals. Based on data collected with federal employees in Brazil from 2019 to 2021, the article identifies that bureaucrats are: 1) potential carriers of human rights values; 2) potential inducers of norm diffusion, adoption, and implementation; and 3) potential agents in the transnational policy process.

Even though the paper is focused on human rights policy, its findings and arguments can be extended to policy fields such as education, which is similarly immersed in transnational dynamics and responds to transnationally established norms.

References

Morais de Sá e Silva, M., Porto De Oliveira, O. (2023). Incorporating Time into Policy Transfer Studies: A Comparative Analysis of the Transnational Policy Process of Conditional Cash Transfers and Participatory Budgeting. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2023.2193961
Risse, T., Risse-Kappen, T., Ropp, S. C., & Sikkink, K. (1999). The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change. Cambridge University Press.

Author

• Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva, University of Oklahoma