were thus two sets of data for every country in the data set: the actual number of transitional
mechanisms that were applied for each country, bearing in mind that were was considerable
variability, and a simple binary score – mechanism present or absent – also for each country.
This allowed for simple quantitative analysis as well as more nuanced descriptions. Where
possible, simple analyses of frequencies were undertaken, and tests of significance also.
The quantitative data base was then used as a guide for developing short qualitative
descriptions of each of the transitional justice mechanisms. These are brief by choice, as the
literature on each of these countries was extensive, and the intention here was to provide
descriptions to underpin the quantitative analysis rather than serve as comprehensive
qualitative analyses as a detailed analysis of 58 countries was beyond the scope of this study.
However, it was our intent to provide a fair overview of the contribution of the various
transitional justice mechanisms from countries moving from authoritarian regimes and
governments.
4. International Experiences with Transitional Justice in pre-transition
periods
4.1 Overall Quantitative Findings:9
Our first finding for the all countries that had transitioned from authoritarian rule is that there
were no statistical differences between the large data set provided by ITJDBP and the cleaned
set, so we can have confidence that the selection of the latter due to the different cut-off date
was not producing a skewed sample. The only marked difference between the two groups
was the greater frequency of civil war in the pre-1990 countries.
Table 1: Type of Authoritarian regime10
%
Civil war
5
Civilian-Individual
15
Civilian-Institutional
31
Military-Individual
29
Military-Institutional
20
Regarding the cleaned set, it
can be seen in the table that the
pre-transition regimes had a
variety of different forms of
authoritarian regimes. There
were few marked differences
between the various types. The
average length of these regimes
was 22 years, but most
European regimes had existed
for lengthy periods.
9
Here note that nine countries had more than one transition - Albania, Bangladesh, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana,
Haiti, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, and Sierra Leone. We chose the last transition for this analysis.
10
Whilst civil war needs no explanation, the other types do. The distinction between “individual” and
“institutional” is simply that the former is as the term suggests rule by an individual who might be either a
civilian or a military ruler. The latter is reserved to one-party state (civilian-institutional) arrangements or
military juntas (military-institutional).
13
Select target paragraph3
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