Retribution and Reparation in the Transition to Democracy

The contributions in this study present a comprehensive analysis of transitional justice from 1945 to the present. They feature a general theoretical analysis of the processes of retribution and reparation as well as case studies by historians and political scientists who discuss the West European transitions after 1945 and more recent Latin American, East European, and South African transitions to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s. The volume's focus is on retribution against the leaders and agents of the autocratic regime preceding the democratic transition, and on reparation to its victims.

Jon Elster is Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Science in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. He has also taught in Paris, Oslo, and Chicago. His publications include Ulysses and the Sirens, Sour Grapes, Making Sense of Marx, The Cement of Society, Solomonic Judgements, Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences, Local Justice, Political Psychology, Strong Feelings, Alchemies of the Mind, and Ulysses Unbound. His research interests include the theory of rational choice, the theory of distributive justice, and the history of social thought.