Courts and Democracy in Postconflict Transitions
A Social Scientist’s Perspective on the African Case
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9543515 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer Widner, Jennifer A Widner (University of Michigan, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 64-75 |
| Publication date | 2001-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of International Law (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9300 • E-ISSN: 2161-7953 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2642037 |
| OpenAlex | W2010432048 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 5 |
A “second liberation” swept the African continent beginning in 1989. In many places, multiparty elections and a measured optimism gained ground. Yet during the 1990s, the spirit of moderation and tolerance typical of the early independence movements began to fray. The recent armed conflicts of Central and West Africa and the columns of refugees crossing borders have served as a blunt reminder of the fragility of many of the continent’s democratic experiments. In this new era, law plays a central, visible, yet delicate role in many peace settlements and democratic transitions, from South Africa to Ghana. Africa’s courts have been challenged to provide the kinds of basic dispute resolution that lie at the core of what it means to be a “government.” At the same time, Africanjudges are mindful of Learned Hand’s caution in The Spirit of Liberty , taped above a secretary’s desk in Uganda. “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women,” Hand wrote. “[W]hen it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.” The success of a postconflict transition will depend, in part, on the role of courts in sustaining a spirit of liberty and tolerance in their societies
Constitution · Democracy · Independence (probability theory · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Human Rights and Development · International Law and Human Rights · Law
Judicial Behavior After a Change of Regime
Calling the Judiciary to Account for the Past
Struggling through the web of impunity—The Jorge Carpio Nicolle case
United Nations peace-building, amnesties and alternative forms of justice
Reaching Beyond the State
The African system on Human and Peoples' Rights, quasi-constructivism, and the possibility of peacebuilding within African states
From self-reliant churches to self-governing communities
Trials and Errors
Accommodating Individual Criminal Responsibility and National Reconciliation
The Contribution of Democracy to Rebuilding Postconflict Societies
Legalised resistance to autocratisation in common law Africa
Institutional legitimacy in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Role of Corporate Political Connections in Commercial Lawsuits
Legal professionals in development
Ethnography and "Postconflict" Violence in the Irish Free State
Judicial politics
| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,64 |
| Citation span | 2001 - 2025 (25) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |