Andrew Reiter

Published: Mar 29, 2019 by NACLA Report on the Americas
Authors: Brett J. Kyle and Andrew G. Reiter

Across the region, militarization is on the rise, posing a major threat to democracy and justice. What can be done?

Published: Feb 06, 2019 by International Studies Quarterly
Authors: Geoff Dancy, Bridget E Marchesi, Tricia D Olsen, Leigh A Payne, Andrew G Reiter, Kathryn Sikkink

This article uses a new database of transitional justice mechanisms and finds that prosecutions increase physical integrity protections, while amnesties increase the protection of civil and political rights. Our analysis suggests that different transnational justice policies each play a potentially positive, but distinct, role in new democracies and in decreasing violations of human rights.

Published: Sep 11, 2015 by Civil Wars
Authors: Andrew G. Reiter

This article draws on a newly constructed cross-national dataset of spoiling following 241 civil war peace agreements in the post-Cold War era to analyze spoiling. It finds that spoiling intended to terminate an agreement is not as common as typically assumed, but still plagues a sizeable number of peace agreements. Moreover, most actors who resort to this strategy typically fail in their goals and the agreement is not at risk, despite the high publicity and attention given to these threats.

Published: Feb 11, 2014 by Israel Law Review
Authors: Andrew G. Reiter

This article creates a typology of the use of amnesty in the context of internal armed conflict and then qualitatively examines the impact on peace of each type. Amnesties granted as carrots to entice the surrender of armed actors can succeed in bringing about the demobilization of individual combatants or even entire armed groups. Amnesties extended as part of a peace process are effective in initiating negotiations, securing agreements, and building the foundation for long-lasting peace.

Published: Feb 11, 2014 by Israel Law Review
Authors: Francesca Lessa , Tricia D Olsen , Leigh A Payne , Gabriel Pereira and Andrew G Reiter

This article examines 63 amnesties for human rights violations committed by state agents that were enacted in 34 transitional countries from 1970 to 2011, and the 161 challenges that endeavored to undermine the power of these laws. We find significant variation in the outcome of challenges. While some lead to the removal or weakening of amnesty laws, others validate them.

Published: Jan 30, 2014 by International Journal of Transitional Justice
Authors: Francesca Lessa, Tricia D. Olsen, Leigh A. Payne, Gabriel Pereira, Andrew G. Reiter

We first identify widespread agreement on four key factors associated with the degree of accountability in a new democracy: civil society demand, domestic judicial leadership, the absence of veto players and international pressure. We then outline the interactions among those factors that lead to four distinct scenarios of overcoming amnesty, from the failure to do so (obstinate amnesties) to successful democratic displacement of amnesties and the proliferation of trials.

Published: May 01, 2013 by Law & Society Review
Authors: Brett J. Kyle and Andrew G. Reiter

This article focuses on Latin America to empirically examine how the process of reforming military courts has played out in each democracy following authoritarian rule. We outline two distinct pathways: (1) unilateral efforts on the part of civilian reformers, and (2) strategic bargains between civilian reformers and the military. We find that reform efforts that do not engage and bargain with the military directly often fail to achieve long‐term compliance.

Published: Dec 09, 2011 by Journal of Human Rights
Authors: Tricia D. Olsen, Andrew G. Reiter and Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm

This article broadens the scope of the study of the political economy of transitional justice by examining the effect of transitional justice on the perceptions of private investors. Specifically, we articulate two competing theories of investor preferences toward transitional justice—“Development through Stability” and “Development though Justice”—and explore how stock markets in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil have responded to efforts to address past human rights abuses over time.

Published: Sep 14, 2011 by International Studies Review
Authors: Tricia D. Olsen, Leigh A. Payne, and Andrew G. Reiter

This article overviews recent developments in transitional justice in Latin America.

Published: Jan 12, 2011 by Armed Forces & Society
Authors: Brett J. Kyle and Andrew G. Reiter

This article develops a theoretical model to explain the state of military court jurisdiction over military personnel for human rights violations in democracies. It then empirically tests this model on seventeen cases in Latin America. The article concludes that the variation in reform of military courts is a result of the relative balance between the extent of military autonomy and the strength of the civilian reform movement.

By: Andrew Reiter

Kyle and Reiter draw on the findings of their book Military Courts, Civil-Military Relations, and the Legal Battle for Democracy: The Politics of Military Justice in a recent piece on Political Violence at a Glance.