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 book shows that an important part of the game is played at the subnational level, and not following a descending ‘top-down’ trajectory, but rather with repeated back-and-forth between and within levels of governance. Actors use human rights treaties in the policy process, sometimes leading to an engagement that increases human rights implementation, and at other times not. International human rights treaties provide opportunities and constraints to a core group of subnational actors. These actors make the most of their agency and they can sometimes contribute to the engagement of political authorities with the treaties, enhancing local human rights protection.
The dynamics of implementation at national and sub-national level is an emerging area of study. Switzerland, as a highly decentralized federal state, offers a perfect setting to study the processes at work. Using legal, political, and sociological analyses, the book draws 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.