Expanding into the local level: selective and maximalist models of human rights implementation in Denmark and Sweden

Abstract

ABSTRACT Traditionally, human rights implementation is perceived as a state obligation. Increasingly, however, city councils across Europe and beyond have launched local human rights programmes during the last decades. The notion of ‘human rights cities’ is an indicator of this development. Implementation efforts at local and regional levels have also spurred ongoing academic interest. However, few scholars have looked into state-initiated institutionalisation or ‘national plans’ aiming to transmit human rights governance to municipal actors. This article unfolds political efforts to have human rights adopted into local governing structures in Sweden and Denmark in a historical comparative analysis. Very similar in welfare state and democracy traditions, the two neighbouring countries have followed strikingly different human rights policies at municipal level. The article traces the core factors behind the two dissimilar approaches with a focus on, firstly, selective models evident in both countries, and, secondly, the maximalist programme which only Sweden has adopted in addition to its selective models. Through this comparison, it emerges which specificities in political and governance culture are decisive for distinct types of human rights localisation. Lastly, the article sketches out future potentials for human rights localisation.