Explaining lustration in Central Europe: a ‘post-communist politics’ approach

Authoritarian legacies, transitional justice and state crisis in Portugal's democratization

“…5 However, when we take an overall view of the democratic transitions of the end of the twentieth century, if we differentiate between transitional and retroactive justice tout court we see that Huntington was correct, as we are dealing with the former and not the latter. That is to say, when 'proceedings begin shortly after the transition and come to end within, say, five years', we are referring to what Elster calls 'immediate transitional justice'.…”

“…10 On the other hand, even when dealing with the majority of cases of elite-driven processes, where public opinion data exists, it tends to show that the elites were 'meeting a societal demand'. 11 Its successful implementation depends on the type of transition.…”

And We Shall Purify

“…7 Although in principle the exposure of officials and collaborators in cruelty and repression seems just, it is not always immediately clear whether the records of the state (e.g., those of the secret police) are complete or accurate. Considerable evidence reveals that they are not (Kaminski & Nalepa, 2006;Rosenberg, 1995;Sadurski, 2003;Williams, Fowler, & Szczerbiak, 2005). 8 Added to this must be a balancing of rights to know and rights to privacy, important symbols and instrumentalities in their own right.…”

“…And yet it is also clear that the files wreak havoc with reputations and careers. Even before the widespread use of the Internet, a sort of collective frenzy of gossip and witch hunting was feared (Williams, Fowler, & Szczerbiak, 2005), and character assassinations on the basis of slim evidence were claimed to have resulted (Rosenberg, 1995;but contrast Bruce, 2008). 9 Openness, important to signify, may be at odds with still other rights, whether to the rule of law or to due process.…”

The Legacy of the Authoritarian Past in Portugal's Democratisation, 1974–6

“…Huntington was writing in 1990, when the transitions in central and eastern Europe were only just beginning and in many cases the calls for punishment and reparations continued, even in the negotiated transitions that had already resulted in consolidated democracies, in apparent counter-examples to his assumptions. 5 However, when we take an overall view of the democratic transitions of the end of the twentieth century, if we differentiate between transitional and retroactive justice tout court, we see that Huntington was correct, since we are dealing with the former, and not the latter. That is to say: when 'proceedings begin shortly after the transition and come to end within, say, five years', we are referring to what Elster calls 'immediate transitional justice'.…”