In recent years, countries have begun to establish ministries of transitional justice (TJ) as part of political transitions from authoritarianism to democracy or from conflict to peace. This may reflect a broader historical trend in the administration of TJ, which has evolved from isolated offices within a particular ministry to ad hoc cross-ministry coordinating bodies to the establishment of dedicated ministries. The reasons for the establishment of specific ministries to pursue TJ, what we call ministerialization, have not attracted scholarly attention. This article explores the causes and likely consequences of this development. In particular, it applies international relations, comparative politics, and public policy theories to explain the phenomenon. Contrary to some TJ literature that is concerned about hegemonic transnational (largely Western) discourse, international actors have played little to no role in shaping how TJ is bureaucratically managed. Rather, based upon fieldwork in Solomon Islands and Tunisia, the article concludes that ministerialization has been the result of domestic policy entrepreneurship. For TJ ministries to become a norm, however, more transnational actors will need to be convinced of the benefits of such an institutional arrangement.

中文翻译：

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过渡时期司法部级化

近年来，各国开始建立过渡司法部 (TJ)，作为从威权主义到民主或从冲突到和平的政治过渡的一部分。这可能反映了 TJ 管理的更广泛的历史趋势，它已从特定部委内的孤立办公室演变为特设的跨部委协调机构，再到设立专门的部委。设立专门部来推行TJ的原因，即我们所说的部级化，并未引起学术界的关注。本文探讨了这种发展的原因和可能的后果。特别是，它运用国际关系、比较政治和公共政策理论来解释这一现象。与一些关注霸权跨国（主要是西方）话语的 TJ 文献相反，国际参与者在塑造 TJ 的官僚管理方式方面几乎没有发挥作用。相反，基于所罗门群岛和突尼斯的实地调查，本文得出结论认为，部长级化是国内政策创业的结果。然而，要使 TJ 部委成为一种规范，需要让更多的跨国参与者相信这种制度安排的好处。