The forgotten factor—the impact of transitional justice on the development of the rule of law in processes of democratization

Until now, democracy research has hardly looked into how the handling of the previous regime’s human rights violations affects the ability of young democracies to consolidate. The article supports the assumption that the search for truth and justice only influences certain democratic partial regimes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zeitschrift für vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 2012-11, Vol.6 (Suppl 2), p.125-147
Main Author: Weiffen, Brigitte
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative Politics
Democracy
Justice
Law
Original Article
Political Science
Social Sciences
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Summary:Until now, democracy research has hardly looked into how the handling of the previous regime’s human rights violations affects the ability of young democracies to consolidate. The article supports the assumption that the search for truth and justice only influences certain democratic partial regimes, and focuses on the Rule of Law dimension. While discussing possible effects of reconciliation work on the evolution of standards and institutions of the Rule of Law in theory, the article also points out the challenges of specifying and measuring the concepts pertaining to dependent and independent variables. Empirical analyses provide clear indications of a positive relationship between reconciliation work and the Rule of Law. The challenges of further research on the effect of transitional justice are examined in this light.
ISSN:1865-2646
1865-2654
DOI:10.1007/s12286-011-0113-2