Between the Lines of Policy: The Influence of National Human Rights Institutions on Business and Human Rights National Action Plans in Argentina and Colombia.
(2026) MRSM15 20261Human Rights Studies
- Abstract
- National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights (NAPs) are public policy instruments through which states operationalize the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Despite their proliferation, the role of domestic institutional actors in shaping NAP development and content remains empirically understudied. This thesis asks: in what manner, and to what extent, do National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) influence the content of NAPs? Based on the analysis of twelve expert interviews and four official policy documents, it conducts a qualitative comparative case study of NAP development and content in Argentina and Colombia. These cases were selected because of their distinct institutional configurations... (More)
- National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights (NAPs) are public policy instruments through which states operationalize the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Despite their proliferation, the role of domestic institutional actors in shaping NAP development and content remains empirically understudied. This thesis asks: in what manner, and to what extent, do National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) influence the content of NAPs? Based on the analysis of twelve expert interviews and four official policy documents, it conducts a qualitative comparative case study of NAP development and content in Argentina and Colombia. These cases were selected because of their distinct institutional configurations of NHRI involvement: diagnostic leadership in Argentina and multi-stakeholder advisory participation in Colombia. Drawing on vernacularization theory, NHRIs are conceptualized as institutional translators mediating between global human rights standards and domestic policy frameworks. Treating official policy texts as bureaucratic translations that hide as much as they reveal, the thesis combines interview-based process reconstruction with documentary analysis. The findings show that NHRI influence is real yet never guaranteed: it is structurally constrained by the executive’s ultimate authority over policy outcomes, enabled where governance architecture creates space for NHRI input, and foreclosed where such space is absent. Across both cases, the translation of the UNGPs into domestic policy proves selective, mediated, and politically contingent. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9243128
- author
- Alonso Jimenez, Salobrar LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MRSM15 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- National Human Rights Institutions, National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights, United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, vernacularization, public policy, expert interviews, documentary analysis, Argentina, Colombia
- language
- English
- id
- 9243128
- date added to LUP
- 2026-07-01 15:43:54
- date last changed
- 2026-07-03 13:42:03
@misc{9243128,
abstract = {{National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights (NAPs) are public policy instruments through which states operationalize the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Despite their proliferation, the role of domestic institutional actors in shaping NAP development and content remains empirically understudied. This thesis asks: in what manner, and to what extent, do National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) influence the content of NAPs? Based on the analysis of twelve expert interviews and four official policy documents, it conducts a qualitative comparative case study of NAP development and content in Argentina and Colombia. These cases were selected because of their distinct institutional configurations of NHRI involvement: diagnostic leadership in Argentina and multi-stakeholder advisory participation in Colombia. Drawing on vernacularization theory, NHRIs are conceptualized as institutional translators mediating between global human rights standards and domestic policy frameworks. Treating official policy texts as bureaucratic translations that hide as much as they reveal, the thesis combines interview-based process reconstruction with documentary analysis. The findings show that NHRI influence is real yet never guaranteed: it is structurally constrained by the executive’s ultimate authority over policy outcomes, enabled where governance architecture creates space for NHRI input, and foreclosed where such space is absent. Across both cases, the translation of the UNGPs into domestic policy proves selective, mediated, and politically contingent.}},
author = {{Alonso Jimenez, Salobrar}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Between the Lines of Policy: The Influence of National Human Rights Institutions on Business and Human Rights National Action Plans in Argentina and Colombia.}},
year = {{2026}},
}