The politics of transitions to democracy include both the forward-looking task of constitution-making and the backward-looking task of transitional justice. To study these processes and to explain their outcomes, one must among other things identify the motives of the political actors that are involved. Following the French moralists, the article tries to identify and assess the importance of interest, passion and reason as motives of the actors. The article also discusses the tendency for actors to misrepresent their motivations, and the frequent formation of alliances between actors animated by different motives that converge on specific policy issues.
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