Is transitional justice ultimately a struggle between law, politics and power in the international system? Discuss with reference to one or two cases.
Sample Solution
To begin, I examine the economic factors which undoubtedly have a huge influence on the survival of non-democratic regimes. In many non-democratic countries today, an abundance of wealth held by the ruling elites compared with poverty among the masses helps dictatorships resist democratisation. Often, the ruling elites spend large portions of the funds available to them on suppressing resistance, for example, âChina reportedly employs two million censors to police the internet (Bennett and Naim 2015)â[4], while in Peru under Fujimori, âthe regime paid more than $36 million a year to the main television channels to skew their coverage, and reportedly offered one channel a $19 million bribe (McMillan and Zoido 2004, pp.82-5)â[4]. This has an opportunity cost; spending on investment and development of industries is foregone, often leaving the citizens of a non-democratic regime stuck in the early stages of Walter Rostowâs 5 Stages of Growth Theory, as shown in Figure 2, which can leave countries primary- or secondary-sector dependent and under-developed. As John Harriss describes, such âeconomic development [is] conducive to democratisation, partly because [it] strengthens the âmoderateâ middle classâ[5]: a social group of people who are better educated and financially-placed to resist being âbought-offâ by a dictator. Emerging middle classes therefore diminish the extent to which non-democratic leaders can bribe their winning coalition with private goods, as the prospect of doing so becomes increasingly expensive as the size and wealth of the middle classes grow as a result of development, while the loyalty norm weakens too. We may also see a rise in post-materialist values as the population becomes wealthier, since âafter a period of sharply rising economic and physical security, one would expect to find substantial differences [in] value priorities, [â¦] for example, post-materialists [â¦] are markedly more tolerant of homosexualityâ[6]. This could erode the extent to which the population would be morally willing to accept such bribes, regardless of magnitude. Subsequently, economic development might lead to the demise of such a regime. An additional economic explanation could be the âresource curseâ, which suggests that countries âwith abundant reserves of non-renewable mineral resources, such as Nigerian oil [and] DRC gold [â¦] produce less diversified and less competitive economies, more income inequality [and] heightened danger of state capture and rent-seeking by ruling elitesâ[25]. This is because the revenue streams in these countries are so concentrated to the elites and ruling classes, providing only menial low-paid labour to politically-insignificant lower classes. Moreover, since they are primary-product-export dependent, manufacturing industries develop overseas where economies of scales are subsequently built; diminishing the ability of local entrepreneurs to set up competing businesses and increase their wealth. The likelihood>
To begin, I examine the economic factors which undoubtedly have a huge influence on the survival of non-democratic regimes. In many non-democratic countries today, an abundance of wealth held by the ruling elites compared with poverty among the masses helps dictatorships resist democratisation. Often, the ruling elites spend large portions of the funds available to them on suppressing resistance, for example, âChina reportedly employs two million censors to police the internet (Bennett and Naim 2015)â[4], while in Peru under Fujimori, âthe regime paid more than $36 million a year to the main television channels to skew their coverage, and reportedly offered one channel a $19 million bribe (McMillan and Zoido 2004, pp.82-5)â[4]. This has an opportunity cost; spending on investment and development of industries is foregone, often leaving the citizens of a non-democratic regime stuck in the early stages of Walter Rostowâs 5 Stages of Growth Theory, as shown in Figure 2, which can leave countries primary- or secondary-sector dependent and under-developed. As John Harriss describes, such âeconomic development [is] conducive to democratisation, partly because [it] strengthens the âmoderateâ middle classâ[5]: a social group of people who are better educated and financially-placed to resist being âbought-offâ by a dictator. Emerging middle classes therefore diminish the extent to which non-democratic leaders can bribe their winning coalition with private goods, as the prospect of doing so becomes increasingly expensive as the size and wealth of the middle classes grow as a result of development, while the loyalty norm weakens too. We may also see a rise in post-materialist values as the population becomes wealthier, since âafter a period of sharply rising economic and physical security, one would expect to find substantial differences [in] value priorities, [â¦] for example, post-materialists [â¦] are markedly more tolerant of homosexualityâ[6]. This could erode the extent to which the population would be morally willing to accept such bribes, regardless of magnitude. Subsequently, economic development might lead to the demise of such a regime. An additional economic explanation could be the âresource curseâ, which suggests that countries âwith abundant reserves of non-renewable mineral resources, such as Nigerian oil [and] DRC gold [â¦] produce less diversified and less competitive economies, more income inequality [and] heightened danger of state capture and rent-seeking by ruling elitesâ[25]. This is because the revenue streams in these countries are so concentrated to the elites and ruling classes, providing only menial low-paid labour to politically-insignificant lower classes. Moreover, since they are primary-product-export dependent, manufacturing industries develop overseas where economies of scales are subsequently built; diminishing the ability of local entrepreneurs to set up competing businesses and increase their wealth. The likelihood>
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