Description
Accountability Shock presents the first systematic explanation of why some 'Third Wave' democracies developed peacefully while others became the world's most violent. The book demonstrates how robust transitional justice processes – combining truth commissions with prosecution of autocratic-era atrocities – prevent criminal violence in new democracies. By holding authoritarian specialists in violence accountable, new democracies can break state impunity, preventing them from becoming key actors in the production of large-scale criminal violence and reshaping the logic of state coercion in democracy. With in-depth analyses of six Latin American cases, the work illuminates why transitional justice is crucial for addressing state-criminal collusion in hybrid contexts. Forged out of a close collaboration between transitional justice scholars and practitioners, Accountability Shock strengthens existing connections while offering practical insights for countries still grappling with authoritarian legacies and violence.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part I. Theory: 1. A Theory of Transitional Justice and Criminal Wars in New Democracies: Breaking State Impunity to Craft Peaceful Democracies; Part II. Quantitative Tests: 2. Preventing Large-Scale Criminal Violence in New Democracies: A Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of TJ on Homicide Rates; Part III. Case Studies: 3. Mexico and Peru: How TJ Prevents the Transformation of Counterinsurgency Wars into Drug Wars; 4. Brazil and Argentina: How TJ Prevents the Outbreak of Criminal Wars in Marginalized Urban Peripheries; 5. El Salvador and Guatemala: Why TJ Can Be an Effective Alternative to Militarized Iron-Fist Policies; Part IV. Comparative Historical Analysis: 6. It Was the State – Demise and Persistence of the Counterinsurgent State: Comparative Lessons on the Development of Peaceful Democracies by Means of Justice; Conclusion.
