How did restorative justice get onto the government agenda, and why does its implementation differ? A multiple streams approach
Articles
Overview
published in
publication date
- April 2024
start page
- 1
end page
- 23
volume
- 7
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 2589-0905
abstract
- Restorative justice has resulted from a paradigm shift in the way criminal conflicts are dealt with. It involves achieving the pacification of the conflict while meeting the needs of victims, offenders and society, through dialogue. This article applies the multiple streams framework (MSF) to analyse how and why restorative justice got onto the government agenda in Western European countries. It also applies the novel theoretical adaptation of the MSF to analyse why restorative justice implementation is uneven across Western European countries and even within countries. The study shows that the generalised dissatisfaction of citizens with the traditional criminal justice system, their empowerment and the performance of policy entrepreneurs constituted a favourable context for restorative justice to get onto the government agenda. The findings underline that the MSF provides a useful lens through which to examine the complexity and dynamics of restorative justice policymaking and implementation processes.
Classification
subjects
- Law
- Politics
keywords
- agenda-setting; government agenda; multiple streams framework; policy implementation; restorative justice