Paso a Paso: Historical Collective Memory and the Empowerment of Democratic Actors in Chile, El Salvador, and Spain
Claman, Alexandra M.
2019
- Within the cases of Chile, El Salvador, and Spain, this thesis sought to investigate a possible correlation between the presence of collective memory efforts, and on the other hand, the improvement of human rights conditions and the empowerment of democratic actors during the democratization process. The collective memory efforts that I analyzed focused on Truth and Reconciliation Commissions ... read morebut included other forms of memorialization. I hypothesized that collective memory efforts positively correlate with human rights conditions, and that such efforts empower democratic actors, making the reconciliation process more inclusive and legitimizing the democratization efforts. I identified four factors that qualify a legitimate democracy based on the work of political scientists: free and fair elections, political rights, government accountability, and pluralistic information. The case of Chile reinforced my hypothesis as it demonstrated collective memory efforts in tandem with democratization that empowered democratic actors through an inclusive reconciliation process that led to a legitimate democracy. El Salvador nullified my hypothesis as democratic actors were empowered years before the transition due to grassroots activism during the Civil War. Spain experienced a delayed institutionalized reconciliation and thus did not empower democratic actors during the transition to democracy as stated in my hypothesis, but it did experience small-scale reconciliation efforts.read less
- ID:
- 1544c244q
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
