Closing the Books Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective [Hardcover]

An analysis of the history of transitional justice from the fifth century BC to the present, first published in 2004.After a change of political system, notably a transition from an autocratic to a democratic or at least constitutional regime, one usually observes a process of transitional justice in which wrongdoers from the previous regime are held to account and its victims compensated. In addition to the numerous transitions after 1945 in Western Europe and after 1989 in Eastern Europe, transitional justice has taken place in classical Greece, the English and French restorations, and more recently in Latin America and South Africa. The book describes the universe of cases, and proposes a framework for explaining the variations among them.After a change of political system, notably a transition from an autocratic to a democratic or at least constitutional regime, one usually observes a process of transitional justice in which wrongdoers from the previous regime are held to account and its victims compensated. In addition to the numerous transitions after 1945 in Western Europe and after 1989 in Eastern Europe, transitional justice has taken place in classical Greece, the English and French restorations, and more recently in Latin America and South Africa. The book describes the universe of cases, and proposes a framework for explaining the variations among them.After a change of political system, notably a transition from an autocratic to a democratic, or at least constitutional, regime, a process of transitional justice emerges in which wrongdoers from the previous regime are judged responsible and victims are compensated. John Elster looks at examples and proposes a framework for explaining variations. In addition to the numerous transitions after 1945 in Western Europe and after 1989 in Eastern Europe, transitional justice has taken place in classical Greece, the English and French restorations, and, more recently, in Latin America and South Africa. John Elsl³q