Human Rights between Non-governability and Political Culture – A New Approach in Human Rights Analysis

This article calls for a new approach in human rights analysis. It points out on a new definition of human rights as a collection of practices in the policy areas of a given specific human right. The article analyzes the politics and strategies of defending human rights. To do so, it integrates the tools of social choice theory with a unique institutionalist perspective that looks at both formal and informal factors. The analysis is novel in two important aspects. Based on institutional theory and social choice, we develop a theory that explains the political aspect of human rights policies in general as well as the functions of several players in the political arena, particularly politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups and the public. These political players operate amid three structural variables. The first is non-governability, that is the inability of the political system to formulate and implement systematic policy plans. Non-governability arises in an environment with a sectarian electoral system that is restricted to a particular group and a traditional public management system that is not oriented towards outcomes and efficiency. The second characteristic is a political culture that promotes short-term calculations over long-term goals. In its extreme form, this culture gives rise to alternative politics, a semi-legal pattern of do-it-yourself behavior that favors outcomes over process. The third characteristic is the judicialization of politics, the situation in which the legal system partially replaces the other authorities in a state. A case study in this paper attempts to examine the factors explaining the Mehadrin’ buses policy making on public transportation in Israel. The separation between men and women on these buses harms the constitutional principles of equality, human honor and dignity and freedom of religion and conscience.