Overview
- Makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how institutions of transitional justice are best able to serve individuals, states, and the international community
- Demonstrates that certain characteristics of truth commissions are necessary in order for those truth commissions to be impactful
- Uses a new dataset to identify and test three components of legitimacy - authority demonstrated by a strong mandate, a break with the past signaled by a new regime, and transparency via public hearings and published reports
Part of the book series: Human Rights Interventions (HURIIN)
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About this book
This book develops a theoretical understanding of how truth commissions achieve legitimacy and contribute to peace and stability. Angela D. Nichols argues that truth commissions are most likely to impact society when they possess certain institutional characteristics—characteristics that send important political signals to the state and broader society alike. If these signals suggest greater degrees of authority, a break with the past, and transparency in both its investigations and its findings, the truth commission is more likely to impact society. In particular, Nichols examines whether or not states that adopt truth commissions with these characteristics are more likely to respect human rights and experience lower levels of violence. She concludes with an analysis of Colombia’s newly established Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Recurrence Commission.
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Keywords
Table of contents (7 chapters)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Angela D. Nichols is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University, USA. She has published work in the Journal of Conflict Resolution; International Studies Perspectives; Conflict, Security, & Development; and Civil Wars.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Impact, Legitimacy, and Limitations of Truth Commissions
Authors: Angela D. Nichols
Series Title: Human Rights Interventions
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11172-4
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-11171-7Published: 22 February 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-11172-4Published: 06 February 2019
Series ISSN: 2946-5117
Series E-ISSN: 2946-5125
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 106
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour
Topics: International Relations Theory, Conflict Studies, Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights, Human Rights, Comparative Politics