The Influence of the International Right to Adequate Housing in Ireland and Spain: Aspirations, Indicators and Realities

This article investigates and compares the influence of the international right to housing in Ireland and Spain, through the use of the functional comparative method. As part of this comparison, we created a set of indicators that aimed to identify evidence of the direct and indirect influence of the international right to housing on actions carried out at the national level to protect against evictions. In applying this method, we focus on three branches of state (the legislative, executive and judiciary) and civil society actors. Our analysis identifies instances of direct and indirect influence on actors in both countries and compares these results. We conclude that evidence of indirect influence is often more common than evidence of direct influence. We suggest this indirect influence may illustrate the role that the international right to housing may play behind the scenes in creating domestic eviction protections.