Alza, Carlos --- "The transposition of the ombudsman model to the human rights model domain: its role as a policy entrepreneur" [2018] ELECD 1065; in Hertogh, Marc; Kirkham, Richard (eds), "Research Handbook on the Ombudsman" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 188

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Ombudsman

Editor(s): Hertogh, Marc; Kirkham, Richard

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786431240

Section: Chapter 11

Section Title: The transposition of the ombudsman model to the human rights model domain: its role as a policy entrepreneur

Author(s): Alza, Carlos

Number of pages: 24

Abstract/Description:

In Spain, Portugal and the Latin American Countries, the Ombudsman has shifted from a classical controller of maladministration to the protection of human rights with a broader mandate and new strategies, tools and rhetoric. It has turned into a problem-solver (through the complaints of the people), a system-fixer (applying remedies or demanding them) and has assumed a fundamental role in becoming the main policy entrepreneur, placing unobserved or invisible issues into the public policy and government agenda. It shifted from the spotlight of a particular case to a public policy-oriented analysis, incorporating topics of government and decision-making agenda. The intervention strategy changed remarkably, becoming a major political-technical actor that benefits the people.