The purpose of this thesis is to address a regulatory dilemma in human rights and to put forward a solution to this dilemma by examining a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). First, the regulatory dilemma is addressed from the viewpoint of the systems theory of Luhmann and the discourse theory of Habermas. In particular, the welfare state adopted juridification in order to pursue social justice but this state regulation leads to an unintended result, that is, a functional disorder (systems theory) and the colonization of the life world (discourse theory). However, we cannot go back to the liberal paradigm which is simply oriented towards protecting the autonomy of individuals but is therefore indifferent to the consequential social problems of inequalities and injustice. This creates a dilemma between the liberal paradigm and the social-welfare paradigm. The second aim is to examine how the regulatory dilemma can be resolved through a new paradigm of regulation which is influenced by systems theory, discourse theory and regulatory scholarship. Third, we will examine the question whether an NHRI, as an alternative institution with a different status and regulatory mechanism from other national institutions, could play a role in avoiding the regulatory dilemma in human rights. The last section is dedicated to discussing sexual harassment as an example to investigate whether an NHRI could be an alternative institution which could overcome the regulatory failure of other institutions and provide a useful solution to tackling sexual harassment. All in all, it is anticipated that this thesis will illustrate the actual application of systems theory, discourse theory and regulatory scholarship to the regulation of human rights, and that it will shed a theoretical light on the idea of an NHRI, which has not yet been actively researched from the theoretical viewpoint.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:519789 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Hong, Sung Soo |
| Publisher | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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