Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation: Judging the Fairness of Amnesty in South Africa

This is a revised version of a paper delivered at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 19-21, 2001, Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois. The research is based on work supported by the Law and Social Sciences Program of the National Science Foundation under Grant No. SES 9906576. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The project is a collaborative effort between Amanda Gouws, Department of Political Science, the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa), and me. I am indebted to Charles VillaVicencio, Helen Macdonald, Paul Haupt, Nyameka Goniwe, Fanie du Toit, Erik Doxtader, and the staff of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (South Africa), where I am a Distinguished Visiting Research Scholar, for the many helpful discussions that have informed my understanding of the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa. Eric Lomazoff provide valuable research assistance on this project. I am also thankful to James Alt, Ronald Slye, and John T. Scott for comments on an earlier version of this article. Finally, I very much appreciate the advice and assistance provided by Kathleen McGraw on many aspects of this article.