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Truth Commission Impact: A Participation-Based Implementation Agenda, Tara J. Melish

Tara Melish

With a focus on truth commissions, this Essay argues for a new approach to assessing the impact or effectiveness of transitional justice mechanisms. It recognizes at least four discernible approaches to impact assessment in the current literature. I term these “Quantifiable Truth,” “Victim Perception,” “Formal Political Rights,” and “Redistributive Development.” While each has added important and complementary insights to the field, each has also exhibited important weaknesses in its ability to speak persuasively to the question of meaningful long-term impact on the societal dynamics and institutions that lead to violence in the first place. To help fill this gap, I …